Codicil Question

[scout124]

Jurisdiction

New Jersey

The mother of a family friend wants to add a codicil to her will stating that one of her beneficiaries can inherit a property under the condition that a specific individual never live on that property after her passing. Previously she was scheduled to inherit the property with no qualifiers. I do not know what the consequence would be if that condition isn't met or even if one is to be put in place. Is this legal? Thank you in advance.

 

[Zigner]

Not gonna be enforceable through a codicil. Your friend's mom should speak to an estate planning attorney to see what options may (or may not) be available.

 

[scout124]

Not gonna be enforceable through a codicil. Your friend's mom should speak to an estate planning attorney to see what options may (or may not) be available.

Thank you, may I ask why it wouldn't be enforceable that way please?

 

[army judge]

Thank you, may I ask why it wouldn't be enforceable that way please?

Once a person is granted title to a property in fee simple, he or she can do whatever the law allows on the property, and has the ability to sell or rent the property as he or she determines.

Fee Simple: a permanent and absolute tenure in land with freedom to dispose of it at will, especially (in full fee simple absolute in possession ) a freehold tenure, which is the main type of land ownership.

 

[scout124]

Once a person is granted title to a property in fee simple, he or she can do whatever the law allows on the property, and has the ability to sell or rent the property as he or she determines.

Fee Simple: a permanent and absolute tenure in land with freedom to dispose of it at will, especially (in full fee simple absolute in possession ) a freehold tenure, which is the main type of land ownership.

Thank you, so just to be clear, violating the condition in the codicil wouldn't cause the property to be returned to the estate and given to the next beneficiary?

 

[army judge]

Thank you, so just to be clear, violating the condition in the codicil wouldn't cause the property to be returned to the estate and given to the next beneficiary?

Most codicils of the kind you describe are meaningless.

Once a person obtains title to real estate, he or she can do whatever he/she wishes with the property, as long as laws aren't broken.

Here's an example, if one fails to pay property taxes, one most likely risks losing the property to a governmental body.

 

[justblue]

Thank you, so just to be clear, violating the condition in the codicil wouldn't cause the property to be returned to the estate and given to the next beneficiary?

I'm curious. Are you the person that the property owner does not want in the home?

 

[scout124]

I'm curious. Are you the person that the property owner does not want in the home?

I am not, but I couldn't help thinking about it and being puzzled by it after I heard about it so I made some posts.

 

[zddoodah]

Is this legal?

It's not illegal. However, once property is transferred in the administration of a decedent's estate, the executor of the estate has no control over what happens to the property. As a practical matter, the only way for the present owner of the property to do something like this in a way that would be enforceable would be to put the property in a trust.

may I ask why it wouldn't be enforceable that way please?

Yes, of course.

violating the condition in the codicil wouldn't cause the property to be returned to the estate and given to the next beneficiary?

Once the administration of the estate is complete, the will becomes a legally meaningless document. There is no mechanism by which the property would "return" to the closed estate. As before, this sort of things can work with a trust.