life estate

[cherylt]

my question is for my father in ohio.
when his mother passed away he paid the taxes, etc. on her home in return for ownership of the home. the deed states that her husband (not his father) is granted life estate. that was in 1991 (i think). this man has now been admitted to a nursing home and is not expected to ever leave. he has let the home become uninhabitable. there is no running water, no electricity, no plumbing, etc. the home is littered with trash, etc. in addition to the deed of the home there is another contract the he and my father drew up at the time of the transfer that states he will maintain the home in the condition it was in at the time of my grandmother's death. this condition has not been met. my father is being told that this contract is unbreakable and he cannot take possession of the home until this man dies. is there anyway that he can dissolve this contract? because the man has no guardian and his nursing care is being paid by medicare some government body(i don't know much about this) has taken over for him to an extent. they have stated they will not declare him incompetent, whether or not this is relevent.

thank you for any help.

 

[ALawyer]

In nearly every state the holder of a life estate has a duty to maintain the property in decent repair (but not to make improvements) as a matter of law, and the contract you mentioned spells that out.

While the life tenancy continues for life -- even if the guy wanted to rent it out he could -- IF the life tenant does not maintain the property the remainderman -- he who gets it on the life tenant's death -- can sue the life tenant (which in this case won't produce money damages) and often move to terminate the life tenancy.

Better yet, get the guy to deed over his life tenancy to the remainderman with a provision that if he recovers and needs the place he can have it back.