What is a condition precedent?

Within the context of wills and testamentary gifts, a “condition precedent” is where something has to happen before a gift is given. For example, I may include a gift in my will that says “I leave each of my children a cash gift as follows - if they graduate from college before they turn 25, they each get a cash gift of $25,000, otherwise when they turn 25 they get a cash gift of $2,000.” Thus, the gift of $25,000 is conditioned on the children graduating college before their twenty-fifth birthday.