# Mother's will: Trust funds, dividing real estate and such **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 11, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-will-trust-funds-dividing-real-estate-and-such/776874 "2017-01-11T16:28:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-will-trust-funds-dividing-real-estate-and-such/776874/41 "2017-07-20T07:42:55Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > That’s what a life estate is: > > "1. I leave my house Blackacre to my daughter Carol for her lifetime. > > 1. If upon her death, her spouse is no longer living, or they have broken up, the house reverts back to my estate. Legal terminology hijack: Spanish law distinguishes between _propiedad_ (ownership) and _usufructo_ (the right to use). In a lease, what’s transferred is the right to use but not the ownership; in a life estate, it would be specified that the person in the house maintains the right to use but not the ownership. In both cases it would need to be specified what kind of decisions can each party (owner and user) make. For example and sticking to homes, who decides when to paint and what colors to paint, or whether it is ok to make or to propose structural changes to the house Is there a legal term in English for this “right to use”? In the situation of leaving a house to someone for their lifetime use, would the paperwork need to specify what happens with regards to maintenance etc? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-will-trust-funds-dividing-real-estate-and-such/776874/42 "2017-07-20T13:46:54Z")
Ah yes, the classic civil law: _usus_, _fructus_ and _abusus_. Property rights are made up of the right to use, the right to take the fruits, and the right to alienate. We don’t use that division in common law, but you can reach the same result. A common law life interest is different from the _usus_ you describe. A person who has a life interest _is_ the owner, for the term of their life. There normally can’t be the restrictions you mention, such as painting and maintenance requirements, because those would be restrictions on the life owner’s property rights. Instead, there are built-in legal limits on what the life owner can do, mainly in the concept of “waste” - the life owner can’t misuse the property in a way that renders it useless or less valuable to the remainderman - the person who has the right to the property on the death of the tenant-for-life. Life interests are complicated and rare. A more likely approach to the issue would be a long-term residential lease, where the parties can craft their relationship with more customization than a life interest provides for. And in many common law jurisdictions, a lease for more than a certain number of years can be registered in a way similar to a property ownership right, to protect the interests of the tenant. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-will-trust-funds-dividing-real-estate-and-such/776874/43 "2017-07-20T15:04:36Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > … > So it took re-examining my desires. I don’t regret doing the things I did for her, and wouldn’t want to take them back. Demanding special payment for being nice isn’t being nice at all. It was good to be able to vent here and get feedback so that I was able to see what I was doing. > > Letting go of all of that made things so much easier. I’m glad that I was able to help my mother over the years. She got a lot of out of that and I’m happy. > … This is very, very important. For your (any your) sanity, attitude matters far more than does numbers. You may not have seen this current thread ([http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=831382](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=831382)) but it talks about a messy family and the ongoing consequences of an unequal distribution done years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-will-trust-funds-dividing-real-estate-and-such/776874/44 "2017-07-22T07:33:00Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > My mother is waiting for the attorney to get back from vacation to get it all signed, but basically things are finalized. > > The real estate agent in Utah went through and found that the assessed value is too high for the Utah house. That’s the residence in which Carol is residing in. His assessment brings down the value to about her share of the estate. There will be a trust fund set up in which my sister will be able to live in the house, but she will continue to be able to receive the SSI. > > Previously, my mother had had her entire IRA earmarked for my younger brother. She is changing that so that he will get a trust fund with his share of the estate, with a monthly stipend put into a debit card. This avoids the problem of giving a mentally ill homeless man a large chunk of cash. > > It looks like the major problems have been taken care of. I missed the thread originally, but it sounds like things have worked out for the best. I assume the trust will be a special needs trust - we have one set up for our son. It’s interesting that these can own a house for the person, but apparently they _cannot_ pay rent on a house or apartment. Weird. In any case, the goal is to allow the person to collect whatever benefits they can from the disability programs. Hopefully the stipend for your brother will be managed in a similar way to allow him to retain any assistance he may be entitled to. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-will-trust-funds-dividing-real-estate-and-such/776874/45 "2017-07-22T07:36:22Z")
> [@dflower](#): > > Those of you in the know I need to ask a question along similar lines. > My mother died and left some $ to be equally divided between her children. I am executor and fear the cash will hurt my sister. She is poor and on medicaid. If she has assets such as this cash they will cut off her medicaid and she will soon be broke with no health insurance. The lawyer is looking into setting up a special needs trust for her. > Any experience with this? I don’t know how this worked out, but unfortunately once your mother died, that money became your sister’s - and I strongly doubt your sister could set up her own special needs trust. Your mother would have needed to set up the trust before her death, unless I am wildly mistaken. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mothers-will-trust-funds-dividing-real-estate-and-such/776874.md?page=2)