Legal Question in Elder Law in California

Re: Life Estate

A life estate is a conveyance of property for the use of a person, who could be the person conveying or another person, for that persons life, and the remainder, which is the full title to the property, to someone else at the death of the life tenant. It is a relatively simple matter but the real issue is that there are other alternatives. While almost any attorney who has been in practice for sometime can create a life estate, an estate planning attorney, with a knowledge of estate and income tax would probably be better with the alternatives.

Re: Life Estate

The life estate allows one person the full use of real estate while that person is alive--usually a residence. Another person is named to receive the "remainder" interest, which is usually full ownership of the property.

A life estate is fairly simple to draft, but the person contemplating one should see an estate planning lawyer--in most cases, there are better ways (than a life estate) to achieve the same result.