Florida Real Estate Sales Associate Examination Content OutlineReal Estate Property and OwnershipMedium
A property owner holds a fee simple estate in their home. They decide to grant their elderly aunt the right to live in the home for the remainder of her life, after which the property will revert to the original owner's children. What type of estate has the owner primarily granted to their aunt?
- ALife Estate Pur Autre Vie
- BConventional Life Estate
- CFee Simple Determinable
- DReversionary Interest
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Conventional Life Estate
A conventional life estate is created by a grantor (the owner) for the lifetime of the grantee (the aunt). The aunt is the 'life tenant.' The property reverts to a remainderman (the children) or the original grantor's estate upon the life tenant's death.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Life Estate Pur Autre Vie is for the life of someone other than the grantee; here, it's for the aunt's life (the grantee).
- C. Fee Simple Determinable is a defeasible fee estate that automatically terminates upon the occurrence of a specified event, not a life estate.
- D. A reversionary interest is the future interest retained by the original grantor, not the estate granted to the aunt.
Conventional Life Estate
An estate in land created by a grantor (owner) for the lifetime of a specific individual (the life tenant/grantee).
- Terminates upon the death of the designated life tenant.
- Often includes a remainder or reversionary interest.
- Life tenant has rights of possession and use, but cannot waste the property.
Memory trick: A CONVENTIONAL life estate is for the CONVENTIONAL life span of the tenant.