§ 1108 Life Estate Grant Limits

This law says that if someone tries to give away more property than they actually own, they don't lose what they do own, and the person who receives the gift gets whatever legal rights the giver could actually pass on.

Key Takeaways

•A promise to give more than you own doesn't cause you to lose what you do own.
•The recipient receives only the rights you were actually able to transfer.
•Your own estate or interest remains intact after the attempted transfer.

Example

A grandmother who only owns a life estate in her house tries to sell the house to a buyer as if she owned it completely and promises to give them full ownership.

Because she only has the right to use the house while she lives, she can't actually transfer full ownership. The buyer still gets the right to live in the house until she dies, but the grandmother keeps her remaining interest and doesn't lose it.

A grant made by the owner of an estate for life or years, purporting to transfer a greater estate than he could lawfully transfer, does not work a forfeiture of his estate, but passes to the grantee all the estate which the grantor could lawfully transfer. (Enacted 1872.)

Key Takeaways

•A promise to give more than you own doesn't cause you to lose what you do own.
•The recipient receives only the rights you were actually able to transfer.
•Your own estate or interest remains intact after the attempted transfer.

Example

A grandmother who only owns a life estate in her house tries to sell the house to a buyer as if she owned it completely and promises to give them full ownership.

Key Takeaways

Example

Key Terms

References

§ 1108 Life Estate Grant Limits

Key Takeaways

Example

Key Terms

References

Key Takeaways

Example

Key Terms

Related Statutes

References

Key Takeaways

Example

Key Terms

Related Statutes

References