§ 3.9 - Estate Acquired

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§3.9 ESTATE ACQUIRED

The title or right acquired by the public following common-law or statutory dedication is discussed below.

(1) Common-law dedication

A common-law dedication conveys an easement only, unless the intention of the owner is to convey a fee. Rainier Ave. Corp. v. City of Seattle, 80 Wn.2d 362, 365-66, 494 P.2d 996, cert. denied, 409 U.S. 983 (1972); Finch v. Matthews, 74 Wn.2d 161, 167, 443 P.2d 833 (1968). Words in a dedication reserving the fee to the dedicators is a redundancy. Bradley v. Spokane & Inland Empire Realty. Co., 79 Wash. 455, 458-59, 140 P. 688 (1914), error dismissed, 241 U.S. 639 (1916).

Comment: It is uncertain how specific a dedication must be to convey a fee simple to the public. In King County v. Hanson Inv Co., 34 Wn.2d 112, 208 P.2d 113 (1949), for example, a quitclaim deed conveying, releasing, and quitclaiming to King County, for public use as a public highway, all interest in a strip of land conveyed the highest estate that a municipal corporation is empowered to hold. The court decided that the deed did not create a determinable, defeasible, or qualified fee. But the court failed to define the estate conveyed by the deed and left unanswered the question of ownership upon abandonment or vacation.

Practice Tip: Any deed to a local government

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