Property Law And The Life Estate

Property Law and The Life Estate By Anthony J. Fejfar, B.A., J.D., Esq., Coif © Copyright 2009 by Anthony J. Fejfar At the Common Law it was possible for a Grantor who held a Fee Simple Absolute to convey a Life Estate with a Reversion back to the Grantor upon the Death of the Life Tenant. The typical form used to accomplish the above, was “Owner Grants a Life Estate to A for Life in the land known as Blackacre.” A then becomes a Life Tenant with a possessory interest in Blackacre for his life, and upon his death the land would revert back to Owner, or, if the Owner was dead, to the Owner’s heirs. Additionally, if Owner wanted the land to go to someone else upon the Death of A, the Life Tenant, then Owner would use the following Grant form: “Owner Grants a Life Estate to A for Life, then the Remainder to B.” In this case, A would have a possessory interest in Blackacre during his life, then upon A’s death, the Land would pass in Fee Simple Absolute by Remainder to B.