Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Colorado
Life Rights to property
My Father in Law died 15 years ago in his will he left his home to my wife and her brother. My Wife's stepmother received Life rights to the property. The will stated she must maintain the property in good condition and keep insurance. She died recently and we went and looked at the house . It is in very bad shape. A contractor gave an estimate of $72,000 for repairs.
My Wife's stepmother was independantly wealthy however we have been told her estate is in a trust. Do we have a chance of collecting from her estate to repair the house?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Upkeep of life estate
Louise Aron
Attorney at Law
Lakewood Office:
1536 South Ingalls
Lakewood, Colorado 80232 USA
(303) 922 7687
fax (303) 922-1370
Cherry Creek Office:
300 South Jackson #100
Denver, Colorado 80209 USA
(303) 780-7339
Satellite offices:
Boulder - 4450 Arapahoe Avenue, #100
DTC - 4610 South Ulster, #150
A TOLL FREE NUMBER is available to clients outside the Denver metro area.
web site http://www.bewellnet.com/louise/
October 6, 2000
LawGuru User
Dear LawGuru User:
The terms of your father-in-law's will, the deed and any other documents, including the trust benefitting your wife's stepmother, need to be examined closely in order to properly answer this question.
I am not sure that I have enough information, so I will assume what I think may be the case. If the life estate (the legal term for what you describe as life rights) was conditioned on upkeep of the home by your wife's stepmother, the consequence of not maintaining the home was to terminate the life estate and have her move out. Liability for upkeep is often not contemplated by a life estate.
Thank you for using LawGuru.
Sincerely,
Louise Aron
Attorney at Law
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