California Real Estate SalespersonProperty Ownership and Land Use ControlsEasy
A grantor conveys a parcel 'to Maria for life, then to her son Carlos.' Maria has which type of estate?
- AFee simple absolute
- BEstate for years
- CLife estate
- DFee simple defeasible
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Life estate
Maria's interest lasts only for her lifetime, making it a life estate; Carlos holds a remainder interest that becomes possessory when Maria dies.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Fee simple absolute has no time limit and is inheritable indefinitely.
- B. An estate for years is for a fixed period of time, not a lifetime.
- D. A fee simple defeasible is conditioned on an event, not a person's death.
Life Estate
An ownership interest in real property that lasts only for the duration of a person's life, after which title passes to a remainderman or reverts to the grantor.
- Life tenant can possess and use the property but not commit waste
- Remainderman holds future interest that becomes possessory at life tenant's death
- Life estate is not inheritable by the life tenant's heirs
Memory trick: Life estate lasts 'til life's end, then it bends to the remainderman's hand.