Louisiana Usufruct

[Bill Jones]

Jurisdiction

Louisiana

I'm new......not trolling or anything. Just need answers from people who know. So......

Here is the scenario.

A wife dies back in 1989 (26 years ago) , leaving her husband lifetime usufruct.
The Heirs are as follows:
Her only son was left 1/2 of her community assets.
3 grandchildren were left the other half to be divided equally.

Within the deceased wifes will, were 3 certificates of deposit that were titled in her name OR one of the grandchildren. Example " Rita Hollingsworth OR Jeffery Hollingsworth III"
The usufructuary ( the surviving spouse) of course had use of these consumables and owned 1/2 of them. The CD's as a whole were valued at 100,000.00
One month later, the usufructuary gave, by manual gift, the three CD's to Jeffery Hollingsworth III.
Here they are yours.

In 1996, the usufructuary adds Jefferys name as an heir, AND the other three heirs names to an account vested in stocks and bonds , valued at 200,000.00. Same split. 1/2 for the only son, the other half for the three grandchildren ( Jeffery is a grandson)

26 years later the usufructuary dies.
The only son, claims that Jeffery already got his inheritance 26 years ago when the usufructuary gave him the CD's valued at 100,000.00

The executor to the the wifes will says , woah wait a minute.........he gave those cd's to Jeffery...........jeffery isnt responsible for that, furthermore if your father thought Jeffery had already gotten his inheritance , then why did he add his name to 200,000.00 worth of stocks and bonds 7 years after he gave him the cd's?
He then goes on to tell the only son, " If anyone is responsible for this, your fathers estate has to pay back your mothers estate because your father was the usufructuary and was responsible for his actions. He furthermore tells him, that as usufructuary, he certainly was within his rights and could give away said cd's since they are indeed consumables and half of them belonged to him anyway.

To make a long story short, Jefferys father wants him cut out of his grandmothers will.

what do you guys think?

 

[army judge]

I'm new......not trolling or anything. Just need answers from people who know. So......

Here is the scenario.

A wife dies back in 1989 (26 years ago) , leaving her husband lifetime usufruct.
The Heirs are as follows:
Her only son was left 1/2 of her community assets.
3 grandchildren were left the other half to be divided equally.

Within the deceased wifes will, were 3 certificates of deposit that were titled in her name OR one of the grandchildren. Example " Rita Hollingsworth OR Jeffery Hollingsworth III"
The usufructuary ( the surviving spouse) of course had use of these consumables and owned 1/2 of them. The CD's as a whole were valued at 100,000.00
One month later, the usufructuary gave, by manual gift, the three CD's to Jeffery Hollingsworth III.
Here they are yours.

In 1996, the usufructuary adds Jefferys name as an heir, AND the other three heirs names to an account vested in stocks and bonds , valued at 200,000.00. Same split. 1/2 for the only son, the other half for the three grandchildren ( Jeffery is a grandson)

26 years later the usufructuary dies.
The only son, claims that Jeffery already got his inheritance 26 years ago when the usufructuary gave him the CD's valued at 100,000.00

The executor to the the wifes will says , woah wait a minute.........he gave those cd's to Jeffery...........jeffery isnt responsible for that, furthermore if your father thought Jeffery had already gotten his inheritance , then why did he add his name to 200,000.00 worth of stocks and bonds 7 years after he gave him the cd's?
He then goes on to tell the only son, " If anyone is responsible for this, your fathers estate has to pay back your mothers estate because your father was the usufructuary and was responsible for his actions. He furthermore tells him, that as usufructuary, he certainly was within his rights and could give away said cd's since they are indeed consumables and half of them belonged to him anyway.

To make a long story short, Jefferys father wants him cut out of his grandmothers will.

what do you guys think?

As a lawyer, I love legal disputes that arise in Louisiana.
Your system of laws derive from Napoleon, who developed his laws based upon the influence of The Romans and their empire.

Okay, for those who don't know "usufruct" is a legal principle that allows one to enjoy the profits of a business for their lifetime, or when real property is involved use of said property for the remainder of one's life.

Ususfruct is a right concerning real property owned by another, normally for a limited time or until death. Simply stated, it is the right to use the property, to enjoy the fruits and income of the property, to rent the property, to collect the rents, all to the exclusion of the underlying real or naked owner. The usufructuary has the full right to use the property but cannot dispose of the property nor can it be destroyed.

Under the common law we call such a right a Life estate". As I said, I love Louisiana law.

Let's take any married couple living together in Louisiana, La Civil Code Art 890 grants an automatic usufruct to the surviving spouse over all of the community property unless it is voided by a will.

The surviving spouse has total use of the property but only owns half of it.

The total use includes the right to exclude the children, or naked owners, from the property while the surviving spouse retains usufruct. Unless confirmed for life in a will, the legal usufruct of Art 890 terminates upon the remarriage of the surviving spouse. It would also terminate at the death of the surviving spouse with full ownership of the property vesting in the children or other descendants of the last surviving spouse.

I think you really need to see a Louisiana licensed wills and estates attorney who is likely to tell you that the matter will need to be resolved in court. From your recitation of events, Jeffrey won't be penalized because of the prior "gifts" given to him in the 20th century. Those gifts have nothing to do with the will which will eventually be probated so that proper distribution will be made to Jeffrey and the other heirs.