Also known as: remainder estates · remainder
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A future interest in real or personal property that becomes possessory upon the natural termination of a prior limited estate such as a life estate. The holder of the remainder estate takes the property in the condition left by the prior estate holder and holds title superior to any burdens the prior holder could not lawfully impose.
Rina Rahman signed a services contract with Ronald Reed containing an unconscionable fee-shifting clause. The court refused to enforce that clause but enforced the remainder of the contract, requiring Reed to complete the agreed work at the stated price.
Ruby Rivera created a trust giving Rowan Russell an outright remainder interest in farmland. Because of unanticipated medical needs, the court modified the trust and converted the remainder estate into a special needs trust that preserved assets for Rowan while fulfilling the settlor's purpose.
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Regina Robinson bought equipment under a UCC-governed contract that included an unconscionable warranty disclaimer. The court enforced the remainder of the contract after limiting the disclaimer so the buyer retained meaningful remedies for defects.
Roger Ramirez faced state criminal charges carrying a potential two-year sentence. The court held that the Sixth Amendment right to jury trial applied through the Fourteenth Amendment, protecting Ramirez's remainder estate in liberty from arbitrary conviction.
Radiant Technologies held a remainder estate in Florida real property under a Delaware trust. The court ruled that Florida lacked in rem jurisdiction over the trust assets because the trustee was not subject to personal jurisdiction in Florida.
Rocky Mountain Mining was prosecuted using out-of-court statements. The court held that the Confrontation Clause barred admission of testimonial statements unless the declarant was unavailable and the defendant had a prior opportunity for cross-examination, protecting the company's remainder estate in its defense rights.
The easement binds only the life estate and expires when the life estate ends. The remainder estate holder takes free of the burden because the life tenant cannot impose obligations on a superior title.
Yes, under the Uniform Trust Code's equitable deviation doctrine a court may convert an outright remainder estate into a special needs trust when unanticipated circumstances make the modification necessary to fulfill the settlor's purposes and preserve assets for the beneficiary.
No. The burden of an affirmative covenant does not automatically run to a life tenant. The covenant must expressly include life tenants or satisfy specialized life-tenant liability rules before the life tenant holding the remainder estate can be bound.
…to include same-sex couples. The highest courts of five States have decreed that same result under their own Constitutions. The remainder of the States retain the traditional definition of marriage. Petitioners brought lawsuits contending that the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment compel…