Simple English definitions for legal terms
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A cestui que vie is a person whose life is used to measure how long a trust, gift, estate, or insurance contract lasts. For example, if someone gives a piece of land to their friend E for the duration of the giver's life, the giver is the cestui que vie because their life is being used to measure how long E gets to keep the land.
Cestui Que Vie refers to the person whose life is used to measure the duration of a trust, gift, estate, or insurance contract. This means that the length of time that the trust, gift, estate, or insurance contract lasts is based on how long the person whose life is being measured lives.
For example, if John creates a trust for the benefit of his daughter, Jane, for the duration of Jane's life, then Jane is the cestui que vie. The trust will last as long as Jane is alive.
Another example is if Sarah takes out a life insurance policy that will pay out to her husband, Tom, for the duration of Sarah's life. In this case, Sarah is the cestui que vie. The life insurance policy will pay out to Tom as long as Sarah is alive.