Life Estate rights

[satterfj]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Georgia
My mother has life estate. My brother added on to the home and lived there 9 years until he moved away at her insistence. She plans to tear down the rooms he built on to the home to return it to its state when our father died 12 years ago. Can she legally devalue the property, removing one-half of the home. She is 92.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by satterfj

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Georgia
My mother has life estate. My brother added on to the home and lived there 9 years until he moved away at her insistence. She plans to tear down the rooms he built on to the home to return it to its state when our father died 12 years ago. Can she legally devalue the property, removing one-half of the home. She is 92.

**A: what does the life estate agreement state with respect to home demolition etc.?

[LindaP777]

Originally Posted by satterfj

Can she legally devalue the property, removing one-half of the home. She is 92.

Do not hand her a sledge hammer . . . or . . . hand her a heavy sledge hammer.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by LindaP777

Do not hand her a sledge hammer . . . or . . . hand her a heavy sledge hammer.

**A: at her ripe age, she uses dynamite.

[LindaP777]

Originally Posted by HomeGuru

**A: at her ripe age, she uses dynamite.

LOL!!! With a lonnnggggg wick!
(. . . needs time to run away . . .)

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by LindaP777

LOL!!! With a lonnnggggg wick!
(. . . needs time to run away . . .)

**A: too funny like a cartoon. Actually, they don't use wicks nowdays.
They use an electronic starter that looks like a large Ipod Nano.

[divgradcurl]

Originally Posted by satterfj

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Georgia
My mother has life estate. My brother added on to the home and lived there 9 years until he moved away at her insistence. She plans to tear down the rooms he built on to the home to return it to its state when our father died 12 years ago. Can she legally devalue the property, removing one-half of the home. She is 92.

No, the life tenant is not allowed to let "waste" occur. Now, if the removal makes the property more valuable, then it's probably okay -- but the life tenant cannot cause or allow a devalutation of the property due to neglect, lack of maintenance, or willful conduct, like you describe.