letter of last instruction & deed with a life estate remainer
scully
get my elderly mothers documents in order.
Thank you in advance.
Daniel R. Reitman
wrote:
>Would someone please explain what these two terms mean . I am trying to
>get my elderly mothers documents in order.
>Thank you in advance.
A "letter of last instruction" could be anything. In most states, a
life estate means that the person who receives the property "for life"
has all rights to the property during his or her lifetime, and after
he or she dies, the property goes either to the person identified to
get the remainder (if any) or the grantor (if no remainderman is
named). This sounds like you need to contact a lawyer in your
mother's home state (and the state where the property is, if
different) to review her estate plan.
Daniel Reitman
Joe
"scully" <scu...@monmouth.com> wrote in message
news:hqt1vsgg628s7nefe...@news.supernews.com...
> Would someone please explain what these two terms mean . I am trying to
> get my elderly mothers documents in order.
> Thank you in advance.
>
>
for a duration measured by the life of another. Then the property goes to
the person with the remainder interest. For example, A deeds blackacre to B
"for the life of C" remainder to D (or if it does not say remainder to
someone else, the remainder goes back to A). Therefore, B has title to the
property as long as C is alive. D, on the other hand, is said to have a
remainder interest in the property. It is inevitable that D, or D's heirs,
will eventually receive the property. As soon as C dies, the property
automatically goes to D (or D's heirs if D is already dead). With a life
estate, the life tenant (the person that holds the property during the life
of another - B) has complete right of possession and enjoyment of the
property. D can not enter the property before his interest ripens.
However, D, having a future interest in the property, can stop B from
committing waste (ie, strip mining the property) because D will eventually
get the property.
This help??
Garry Wiegand
>Would someone please explain what these two terms mean . I am trying to
>get my elderly mothers documents in order.
I endorse the others' answers. I would note: I've been told that life estates
almost never occur in the real world any more. Trusts apparently work better
with the tax man. If it's your mother's will that creates the life estate,
and if the property is worth very much, it might be worth consulting a lawyer
about alternative ways of doing things.
Garry
nos...@isp.com
>Would someone please explain what the . . . terms
> "letter of last instruction" and "deed with a life
> estate remainder" mean.
A deed with a life estate remainder is a document by which the purported owner
of real property or of some kinds of other designated property grants someone
(usually, but not always, someone already in possession) the right to own that
property during, but only during, that person's or some other designated
person's lifetime and which directs that the "remainder [of the estate in that
property, i.e., of its full/unrestricted ownership] to go to some other
designated person(s) when the person with the life estate dies.
Restricted largely to gothic romance novels and bad English language short
stories or movies of a certain period, a letter of last instruction is, for
most law-related purposes, an at best essentially meaningless expression,
which, however, if/when nonetheless attempted to be used, can(has), with one
key exception, has create(ed)/trigger(ed) any number of mischeivous, or worse,
problems for survivors. In other words, the expression actually means: a
document a perverse and, perhaps, incosiderate individual, who should have
made/left a will, wrote and left instead of leaving a will -- and the exception
is of course when the writer of such a "letter" has written, published, and
signed it in the presence of the law-required number of witnesses so ask to
make it a "will" which will be recognized by the place-applicable legal
authorities.
> I am trying to get my elderly mothers
> documents in order. Thank you in advance.
If your mother is likely to die leaving assets of more than merely minimal
value, especially if including real estate or valuable art work or other
valuable widgets she wants some of her survivors to share in certain ways at
certain times, it probably would be not even penny wise but surely pound
foolish of her not to comparatively shop for and retain the services of an
experienced, knowledgeable, practical lawyer for the purpose you note.
John Noble
nos...@isp.com wrote:
>On Sat, 21 Oct 2000, scully <scu...@monmouth.com> wrote:
>
>>Would someone please explain what the . . . terms
>> "letter of last instruction" and "deed with a life
>> estate remainder" mean.
>
>A deed with a life estate remainder is a document by which the purported owner
The "purported owner"? The term actually doesn't make any sense. There's
no such thing as a "life estate remainder." There is a life estate and
then a remainder. Someone gets the property for life (the life estate),
and someone gets the property after that life (the remainder). As an
estate planning strategy it is usually used to reduce the value of a
taxable estate by transferring part of the increasing value of an
expensive personal residence, while allowing the client to live there for
the rest of her life. There are usually better choices.
>
>Restricted largely to gothic romance novels and bad English language short
>stories or movies of a certain period, a letter of last instruction is, for
>most law-related purposes, an at best essentially meaningless expression,
The instruction letter can serve very practical purposes, advising kin who
should be notified; funeral/burial/cremation preferences; location of the
will and relevant financial records; location and contents of safe deposit
box; etc. And some states will enforce a will provision that directs the
distribution of personal effects in accordance with a separate schedule
that might be included in such a letter despite the lack of formalities in
its execution. It is at least useful for expressing unenforceable
preferences in that regard ("I've directed my executor to distribute my
personal effects equitably between my children, but it is my hope and
expectation that Bud will receive my jewelry and furs, and Trixie will
receive the fishing tackle and gun collection that her father left me.") I
also generally prefer the use of a letter rather than the will for those
clients who feel the need to explain (but only after they're dead) why
Betty, the single mom who brings the grandkids to visit every week, is
receiving $500,000, while Biff, the Harvard-trained brain surgeon who
hasn't called in three years, should be grateful he isn't getting a bill
for his medical school tuition.
jfn
edvv...@gmail.com
> Would someone please explain what these two terms mean . I am trying to
> Thank you in advance.
written by you that provides additional and more personal
information regarding your estate. Typically letters of
instructions are directed to the executor, family members, or
beneficiaries. For more information about this, I found a =
reliable blog online, http://wataxadvisors.com/put-it-in-a-letter