At the risk of oversimplifying, a “life estate” in property (generally a widow but not always) is the right to use the property and receive income from the property during the person’s lifetime. They do not have the right to bequeath the property to someone, to mortgage it, or to sell it. Oftentimes a widow is given a “life estate” in a piece of property from her husband and in so doing, he specifies to whom it is to pass after her death.
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2 Responses
Wow, that could be problematic if she needed money & couldn’t sell the property to move elsewhere. But then again, she might have other means of support from produce on the farm.
I’ve seen one case where all the “subsequent heirs” who were to get the property after her death sold it before she died so they all could move.