Tail Special

An estate tail granted to one and certain only of the heirs of his body, as those to be begotten on his then wife. 2 Bl. Comm. 113. TAILLE (French). In Old Frencli Law. A tax or assessment levied by the king, or by any great lord, upon his subjects. Brande. In Old English Law. The fee which is opposed to fee simple, because it is so minced or pared that it is not in the owner's free power to dispose of it, but it is, by the first giver, cut or divided from all other, and tied to the issue of the donee, — in short, an estate tail.

An estate in tnil where the succession is restricted to certain heirs of the donee's bsdy, and does not go to all of them in general; e. g., where lands and tenements are given to a man and "the heirs of his body on Mary, his now wife, to be begotten;" here no issue can inherit but such special issue as is engendered between those two, not such as the husband may have by another wife, and therefore it is called "special tail." 2 BL Comm. 113. It is defined by Cowell as the limitation of lands and tenements to a man and his wife and the heirs of their two bodies. But the phrase need not be thus restricted. Tail special, in its largest sense, is where the gift is restrained to certain heirs of the donor's body, and does not go to all of them in general. Mozley & Whitley.

Defined under Estate In Tail in Black's Law Dictionary.