[Genealogy] Life Estate Newspaper Truths, Salt Lake Trip Room, Midwest Genealogy Center

Wed Jun 17 10:23:28 CDT 2026

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17 June 2026

** Limits of a Life Estate
** Join Us in Salt Lake--still room
** Midwest Genealogy Center Trip
** The Truth of the Newspaper
** Getting Updates
** Brick Wall Busters

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Limits of a Life Estate
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to my wife I give a life estate in all my real property and at my demise it
is to go to my children thusly named…

A life estate given to a wife generally allows the wife the right to use
the property, to receive income from the property, and to live on the
property as long as she lives. She will have to maintain the property and
pay the property taxes, but as long as she does that it is hers to do with
as she sees fit (as long as she obeys the law). There may be some slight
variations from one state to another, but that’s the essence of a life
estate.

In certain times and places, a life estate in the real property protected
the wife and her interest in the property. It could not be taken from her.
If she married again, that husband could not obtain title to the property
and perhaps sell it or encumber the title. In some cases a husband might
have given his wife title to his real property as long as she lived or
remained a widow. This was usually a way to prevent a subsequent husband
from acquiring the property and potentially leaving the wife out in the
cold.

It also protected the subsequent heirs.

They would have the property after their mother died. If the wife was given
fee simple title to the property in a time and place where women could
write wills and bequeath real property, she could will the property to
whomever she chose–potentially disinheriting a child or all of them save
one. Giving her a life estate prevented her from doing that. Giving her a
life estate or “widowhood estate” when men held more property rights than
women partially protected her as well. No system is perfect.

It is worth remembering that bequeathing a life estate to someone is not
just done in a legal context. No act is done in solely a legal
context. Acts are done in a family context as well and sometimes “family
drama” is dictating what sorts of legal acts are done.

My ancestor bequeathed his wife a life estate in his real property in his
will in Illinois in the 1870s. At her death it was to go to his children
and to one grandchild (a daughter of a daughter who pre-deceased her
father). These subsequent heirs are named specifically in his will. Within
a few years of his death, one son had two of the legatees sign him quit
claim deeds to the property in question. The same year those quit claim
deeds were executed the mother signed a will giving all “her real estate”
to this son.

It looks like he was preparing for her demise and his inheritance.

The will was thrown out by the probate judge after her death because she
didn’t have a fee simple title to the property. She didn’t have the ability
to bequeath it. I’ll never know what the father’s real reason was for
giving his wife a life estate in his property instead of giving her a fee
simple title (which he could have done in Illinois in 1877). Other men
during that time period who pre-deceased their wives gave them outright
title. But it’s possible he had an inkling of what would happen and wanted
a way to prevent it.

There’s always a reason.
-------------------------
Still Room in our Salt Lake Trip
-------------------------
We still have spaces in our trip to the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake
City this August. Details on our site.
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2022-family-history-library-salt-lake-city-trip/>

5-8 October 2026
4 days of genealogy research

in Independence, Missouri
*save your spot today!*

We are excited to announce an October trip to the Midwest Genealogy Center
in Independence, Missouri.

We will have time for genealogy lectures, consultation, and research. Our
approach is laid-back, conversational, and geared to help you with your
research.

Details are at:

https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/mid-continent-genealogy-library-october-2025-research-trip/

Spaces are limited.
--------------------------
The Truth of the Newspaper
--------------------------

It is not always true because it is in print.

In  *Fields, Fens and Felonies: Crime and Justice in Eighteenth-Century
East Anglia
<https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1909976113/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1909976113&linkCode=as2&tag=gentipoftheda-20&linkId=2a8184473be5a6c546f6d32a7d780138>
*(2016
Waterside Press, United Kingdom), Gregory Durston writes in his
introduction that “newspapers were usually *reasonably* reliable when it
came to reporting the basic facts of a case and its outcome…” (p. 17). He
goes on to comment further that it was not uncommon for newspapers to use a
few select words for certain types of crimes quite liberally when there
were in fact a variety of specific words assigned to specific types of
crimes.

As a result the newspaper may not have been entirely legally accurate.

Durston is discussing newspaper reporting of criminal cases in 18th century
East Anglia, and one has to be careful extrapolating his statements to
newspapers in general. However, it’s important to note that newspapers are
not court records and should not be considered as their equivalent. The
genealogist should use a newspaper reference to a court case as a means to
learn that it exists–not as a completely accurate account of what took
place in court.

There could be legal details that for a variety of reasons a newspaper
decided not to print.

So when a newspaper says your relative was found guilty of a robbery in
1800, you probably should try and locate actual court records.Those records
may use a different word to describe the crime and that word may have had a
very specific meaning.

All of this is why one cites exactly what one has used. If a newspaper said
a person was convicted of a robbery, then that newspaper should be cited so
that you (or someone reading your information and citation) knows that
you’ve not referenced the actual court record–just the newspaper was used.
It may be that court records are not extant for the period of interest.

No matter.

Your citation should reference the newspaper and you should remember that,
the newspaper may have got the essence of the story right but that there
could be a few details that are askew.

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------------------------------------------------------------------
Brick Wall Busters 2026 is here!!
--------------------------------------------

*Brick Wall Busters 2026*

*Need to jump-start your research?*

This hour-long presentation is geared towards advanced beginning or
intermediate genealogists. Our focus will be on problems in the United
States between roughly 1700 and 1900. Brick wall ideas will be pulled from
consultations with clients and personal research experience. Approaches
will be practical and down-to-earth.

Handout included. Presentation made by Michael John Neill.

Michael has forty years of research experience in families throughout the
United States. Presentation is based on his personal experience and
consultations he has made to clients on research trips and via virtual
consultations.

Presentation and handout available now for immediate download--for $26.
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=249781&method_id=272792>
Download
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------------------------------------
Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
PO Box 17, Henderson, IL 61439
http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com
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