Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Yes, basically correct. Technically the life tenant is entitled to reimbursement for the portion of the mortgage payment that reduces the principal owed on the mortgage, but because on most mortgages that is a very small amount of the mortgage payment, it is usually a non-issue. If, however, the mortgage has been in place so long that the principal is a major part of the mortgage payment, it is usually in the interest of both the life tenant and the remainderman(men) to refinance the mortgage. This has the double benefit of reducing the life tenant's monthly payments AND resetting the amortization of the mortgage so that there is very little principal payment to worry about.