Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: Life Estate transfer of property

If all of the residuary beneficiaries are living and over the age of 18, the answer is yes, if they are all in agreement (unless the granting document has some specific prohibition otherwise). If some of the residuary beneficiaries are under 18, you will need to have a guardian ad litem appointed by the probate court to obtain a court order to allow the transfer.

The more serious problem that frequently arises in this type of situation, is what if some of the beneficiaries have not yet been born, i.e. for example the residuary beneficiaries may be described as "all of Mary's children living at the time John dies" and Mary is 18 and John is the life tenant. In that case you will probably have a hard time convincing a judge to let you terminate the life estate and transfer the property.

Re: Life Estate transfer of property

Probably so, unless the documents giving rise to the life estate prohibit it. This would best be handled by obtaining approval from the probate court to prevent future title problems and future beneficiary claims.