Also known as: tenancies for life · life tenancy · life tenancies · life estate · life interest
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A possessory estate in land whose duration is measured by the life of a designated person, typically the tenant or another named individual.
Tabitha Taylor's will left her family home to her surviving spouse Thomas Thompson under a constitutional homestead provision that granted him a tenancy for life. The personal representative charged the value of that life tenancy against Thomas's statutory homestead allowance from the estate. Thomas received the reduced allowance after the life tenancy valuation was subtracted.
Tori Taylor conveyed a painting to her son Tobias Thomas while expressly reserving a tenancy for life for herself. She retained possession until her death. Tobias later sued his stepmother to enforce the remainder interest created by the gift subject to the life tenancy.
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Tessa Takahashi and Taliah Tang held property as joint tenants. Taliah granted a tenancy for life to a third party. The court examined whether the grant severed the joint tenancy and converted the interests into a tenancy in common.
Thomas Thompson held a tenancy for life in a historic home under his late spouse's will. He removed load-bearing walls and halted repairs. The remainderman sued for waste and sought an injunction to protect the future interest.
Tobias Thomas orally promised his neighbor Taliah Tang a tenancy for life in a cottage in exchange for care during his final years. After his death the estate sought to evict her. The court considered whether the oral grant created an enforceable life tenancy.
Tundra Resources placed land in trust for the benefit of its founder Tabitha Taylor for life with remainder to her heirs. The trustee challenged whether the life interest qualified as a valid tenancy for life under the trust terms.
A tenancy for life ends automatically upon the death of the measuring life rather than on a fixed calendar date. Courts in some jurisdictions recognize it to prevent unfair eviction when a lease appears intended to last for life.
No. Recognition of a tenancy for life prevents the landlord from ending the tenancy merely because the lease lacks a definite term. The estate continues until the measuring life ends.
No. The absence of inheritance language confirms the estate is not a fee simple and is measured solely by the designated life.
The remainderman may obtain an injunction, damages measured by impairment to the future interest, or foreclosure if the life tenancy is mortgaged.
…that he has never had possession of the painting but asserts that his father made a valid gift of the title in 1963 reserving a life estate for himself. His father retained possession of the painting until he died in 1980. Defendant, plaintiff’s stepmother, has the painting now and has refused plaintiff’s requests that she turn…