Definition
A condition in deed is a condition that is expressly stated in a deed or other written instrument — such as a feoffment, lease, or grant — using plain language or recognized terms of law. It stands in contrast to a condition implied by law (sometimes called a condition in law), which arises from legal inference rather than express declaration.
The concept belongs to the law of property and conveyancing. When a grantor transfers land subject to a condition in deed, the condition is written into the instrument itself, making its terms visible on the face of the document. If the condition is breached, the consequences depend on whether the condition is a condition precedent, condition subsequent, or conditional limitation — but the defining feature of a condition in deed is simply that it is express rather than implied.
Common Confusion
Condition in deed vs. condition in law: These are the primary pair researchers encounter in historical sources. A condition in law arises by operation of law without express statement — for example, the implied warranty of seisin that accompanied early common law conveyances. A condition in deed must appear in the instrument. The confusion compounds in older sources because "deed" in this phrase carries its archaic property-law meaning (a written instrument conveying an interest in land), not the modern everyday sense of any document.
Condition in deed vs. condition expressed: Black's treats these as equivalent, cross-referencing "condition expressed" directly. Some older authorities use both phrases interchangeably; others reserve "condition expressed" for the broader category that includes conditions in written instruments beyond deeds strictly defined. For most research purposes the terms are synonymous, but check which framing the source you are reading employs.
Why It Matters in Research
The phrase "condition in deed" is primarily a historical term of art and will appear most frequently in sources predating the twentieth century. Modern practitioners and courts rarely use the phrase; they simply describe a condition as "express" and then characterize it as precedent, subsequent, or a conditional limitation. Researchers working in nineteenth-century or earlier property materials — particularly materials addressing feudal tenure, early conveyancing practice, or common law estates — will encounter the term and need to understand that it signals expressness, not any particular type of condition.
The Rapalje & Lawrence entry, rather than defining the term independently, redirects to the general treatment of conditions under section four of that work's condition entry. This is a signal: historical dictionaries treated "condition in deed" as a classificatory label rather than a standalone doctrine. If you are chasing down the operative rules — what happens on breach, what language suffices, what estates are subject to conditions — you must follow those cross-references into the broader condition framework.
The parallel to "condition in law" is essential navigational context. In any historical source where you encounter one phrase, the other is likely nearby, and the author's purpose is usually to distinguish express from implied obligations or to classify defeasible estates. Understanding the pair, not just the single term, is what unlocks those passages.
Modern deed-based conditions — particularly in the context of deed of trust instruments and mortgage documents — are treated under entirely different doctrinal frameworks today. Do not assume that a historical discussion of "conditions in deed" maps cleanly onto modern mortgage covenant analysis or real property restriction law without checking the intervening doctrinal development.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary defines a condition in deed as a condition expressed in a deed (feoffment, lease, or grant) in plain words or legal terms of law, citing Coke on Littleton at 201a and Cowell. This is a minimal entry — definitional only, with no treatment of consequences or mechanics. The citation to Co. Litt. 201a is significant: Coke's commentary on Littleton's Tenures is the authoritative common law source for the distinction between conditions in deed and conditions in law, and any serious historical inquiry should be traced there.
Rapalje & Lawrence offers no independent definition, directing the reader instead to the broader condition entry. This approach reflects the consensus treatment: the distinction between conditions in deed and conditions in law was a classificatory step, not an independent doctrine with its own rules.
Neither source addresses modern property law because neither was written for it. What historical dictionaries miss entirely is how express deed conditions function today under statutory frameworks governing restrictive covenants, deed restrictions, and conditions in deeds of trust — contexts where the term "condition in deed" no longer appears but where the underlying concept of an express written condition remains foundational.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
The Law Mind Property Law Encyclopedia: Mortgages — Promissory Note and Deed of Trust (property_55) — relevant for understanding how express conditions function in modern deed of trust instruments, the contemporary analog to conditions in deed within secured lending.