A life interest
(or life rent in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
) is a form of right, usually under a
trust, that lasts only for the lifetime of the person benefiting from that right. A person with a life interest is known as a
life tenant.
A life interest ends when the life tenant dies.
An ''
interest in possession trust'' is the most common example of a ''life interest trust''. In a typical interest in possession trust, the life tenant receives all the
income from the
trust for the rest of his or her life. On the life tenant's
death
Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
, the trust comes to an end, and the
capital of the trust is paid to another person, known as the
remainderman, as specified by the trust document.
One form of life interest is a
life estate, an ownership interest in property that lasts for the life of the party to whom it has been granted. Unlike the beneficiary of a trust, the owner of a life estate in property has the right to possession of the property and may use it as any other owner, subject only to a duty to avoid
waste of the property value affecting parties with a
future interest.
See also
*
Personal injury trust
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Life Interest
Real property law