Life Estate

Life Estate means, the property is yours until you die. A Life Estate is a type of Freehold Estate because you own it, but the duration is limited to the lifetime of a person. You cannot pass it to your heirs because your ownership ends the second your heart stops.There are two ways these are created: Conventional (by a person) or Legal (by the law).A. Conventional Life Estate (Created by Grantor). Imagine an elderly man wants to give his house to his second wife, but when she dies, he wants the house to go to his children from his first marriage (not her new boyfriend). He creates a Life Estate. The wife gets to live in the house and "own" it for her lifetime. She must pay taxes and maintain it, but she cannot destroy it (waste).What happens when she dies? If the original owner (Grantor) says, "When she dies, the property comes back to me," that is a Reversion estate.Remainder Estate: If the original owner says, "When she dies, the property goes to my children," the children are called the Remaindermen. They hold a "Remainder Estate" while she is alive.