Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois
Can remainder-man deed his interest while life interest is still alive?
1/3 share in an undivided 80 acres passes, by Will, to the deceased's four children. The Will provides that if any of the four children is deceased, then that child�s remainder interest passes to his or her children. One of the deceased children, in a divorce settlement, signed over his remainder interest to his now ex-wife, as a life estate only. Now, some 15 years later, the original 1/3 share holder died. Does the divorce settlement trump the Will and does the ex-wife have an interest in the property?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Can remainder-man deed his interest while life interest is still alive?
From your hypothetical, it would seem to me that the life estate would be valid only during the lifetime of the divorced child. After that person's death, the property would pass to that person's children.
Therefore, the ex-spouse would no longer have an interest in the property and it would pass directly to the deceased child's children.
Please let me know if I can assist you with this situation.
Re: Can remainder-man deed his interest while life interest is still alive?
This sounds like a BAR exam question, but it is very simple if broken down. The 1/3 owner can only give away what is his to give right? So he only has a life interest in the land, since the granting of the land laid out who receives the remainder (and its not the ex-wife).
When he dies, his interest was extinguished, and any interest he had to sell/gift/lose extinguished as well.
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