Topic 8.4: Estates >

Learning Objective

After successfully completing this topic, you will be able to
• distinguish between freehold and nonfreehold estates, and
• describe the characteristics of a life estate.

Types of Estates

An estate refers to the degree, quantity, nature, and extent of interest (ownership rights) a person can have in real property. There are two types of estates
• freehold estates—ownership of the property, and
• nonfreehold estates—commonly called leasehold estates.

Freehold Estates

A freehold estate is ownership of the land, often called fee, fee simple, and fee simple absolute title. The word fee is derived from the old English term fief, meaning a feudal landholding. Fee simple absolute ownership is the highest ownership interest. Most property titles are held in fee. A fee simple estate can be held for an indefinite period, and includes life estates.

Voluntary Life Estates

A life estate conveys ownership only for the life of the owner. At the owner’s death, the property goes either to a remainderman or reverts to the grantor (who would have a “reversion estate.”) The owner of the life estate cannot will or sell the property, and is expected to pay all taxes and perform necessary maintenance.

For example, a son could buy a home for his mother to enjoy until her death. To prevent the mother from willing the property to a charity or another sibling, the son could deed the house to his mother as a life estate, giving himself a reversion estate. When she dies, title to the property would be vested in the son.

Alternatively, the son could give the mother the life estate and direct that his own child receive title to the property when the mother dies. The child would be a remainderman.

Another type of life estate is a legal life estate and comes about as one of the homestead protections. (See below.)

Homestead

Florida law gives many protections to the owners of a homestead.

Legal Life Estate

If the sole owner of a homestead dies without a will (Intestate), the spouse is not on the deed and there are children:
• the spouse gets a legal life estate, and
• the children are remaindermen.

Exemption from Forced Sale

The constitutional homestead right protects the family home from forced sale (execution) of the homestead by creditors for all debts, including credit card debt. The amount of homestead property exempt from forced sale is limited to 160 acres outside a city, or ½ acre inside the city.

The family homestead is not exempt from property taxes, special assessments, mortgages, vendor’s liens, or construction liens.

Homestead Tax Exemption 

$25,000 is deducted from the first $50,000 of assessed value of the principal residence before taxes are applied. An additional $25,000 is deducted from the assessed value of the home (except for School Board taxes) from values of $50,000 to $75,000. See Unit 17 for more information.