Texas Real Estate State Practice Exam

What type of estate includes ownership for the duration of someone's life?

1. Fee Simple

2. Life Estate

3. Defeasible Fee

4. Qualified Fee

The correct answer is: Life Estate

The correct answer is indeed Life Estate, which refers to an ownership interest in real estate that lasts for the duration of a person's life. In a life estate, the individual has the right to use and enjoy the property during their lifetime; however, upon their death, the ownership of the property will transfer to another party, known as the remainderman. This creates a temporary ownership structure based solely on the lifespan of the individual, rather than a permanent ownership like fee simple, which grants full ownership indefinitely. In contrast, a fee simple estate provides the owner with complete and unrestricted ownership that lasts forever. Defeasible fee estates have conditions under which the ownership could be terminated, and qualified fee estates often involve specific conditions or limitations that can result in a change of ownership upon certain events. Life estates stand apart in that they are inherently linked to an individual's life expectancy, making them unique in property law.