Duration of A Life Estate
Life estates are measured either by the life of the property recipient, or by the life of some other person; these latter are called life estates pur autre vie (Law French, "for the life of another"). A life estate pur autre vie is most commonly created in one of two circumstances.
- First, when the owner of property conveys his interest in that property to another person, for the life of a third person. For example if A conveys land to B during the life of C, then B owns the land for as long as C lives; if B dies before C, B's heirs will inherit the land, and will continue to own it for as long as C lives.
- Second, if A conveys land to C for life, C can then sell the life estate to B. Again, B and B's heirs will own the land for as long as C lives.
- In either scenario, once C dies, the ownership of the land will revert to A. If A has died, ownership will revert to A's heirs. The right to succeed to ownership of the property upon the expiration of the life estate is called a remainder.
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