Simple English definitions for legal terms
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Term: pur autre vie
Definition: Pur autre vie is a fancy French way of saying "for someone else's life." It's used in legal situations to describe how long someone has the right to own a piece of property. For example, if Person A gives Person B the right to own a house for as long as Person C is alive, that's called a life estate pur autre vie. This is a smaller right than owning the property forever, and when Person C dies, the property will either go to someone else or back to Person A.
Pur autre vie
Pur autre vie is a legal term in French that means "for another's life." It refers to the duration of time that someone has the right to possess real property based on the life of another person. For example, if Person A conveys property to Person B for as long as Person C lives, Person B has a life estate pur autre vie. This means that Person B has the right to possess the property for as long as Person C is alive.
Person A conveys a house to Person B for as long as Person C lives. Person B has a life estate pur autre vie in the house. If Person C dies, Person B's right to possess the house ends.
Another example is if a father conveys a piece of land to his son for as long as the son's wife lives. The son has a life estate pur autre vie in the land. If the son's wife dies, the son's right to possess the land ends.
The examples illustrate how pur autre vie works in real estate. It shows that the right to possess the property is based on the life of another person, not the possessor. The person who has the life estate pur autre vie has a lesser interest in the property than the fee simple absolute, which is the complete ownership of the property. The life estate pur autre vie is followed by either a remainder in some party or a reversion in the grantor.