Providing a Beneficiary with a Right of Residence in your Will: Right to Occupy, Right to Reside for Life, or Life Estate?
When you include a right to occupy or a right to reside for life in your Will, the property is transferred into your Trustee’s name and is held on trust. Legal ownership therefore remains with your Estate. The resident has no legal right or proprietary interest in the property.
The difference between a right to occupy and a right to reside for life is that a right to occupy has terminating conditions which can end the right before the beneficiary’s death, but a right to reside for life subsists until the beneficiary dies creating an equitable interest in their favour.
When you include a right to occupy or a right to reside for life in your Will, the property is transferred into your Trustee’s name and is held on trust. Legal ownership therefore remains with your Estate. The resident has no legal right or proprietary interest in the property.
The difference between a right to occupy and a right to reside for life is that a right to occupy has terminating conditions which can end the right before the beneficiary’s death, but a right to reside for life subsists until the beneficiary dies creating an equitable interest in their favour.
Contact our expert Principal solicitor, Tracey Dwyer, to discuss whether any of these options will assist you with providing for a beneficiary in your Will.
