Retained Life Estate
You may desire to leave your home or farm to the Auburn University Real Estate Foundation at your death but would also like to receive a current charitable income tax deduction. A retained life estate might offer the solution you need!
How a life estate works
- You deed your home or farm to the Auburn University Real Estate Foundation. The deed will include a provision that gives you the right to use your home or farm for the rest of your life and that of any other life estate party named in the deed.
- You and the Auburn University Real Estate Foundation sign a maintenance, insurance and taxes (MIT) agreement to explain that you will do your best to keep the property in good condition and that you will maintain property insurance and pay the property taxes.
- When the owners of the life estate have passed away, your home or farm will belong to the Auburn University Real Estate Foundation. We will use or sell the property to further our charitable work.
Benefits of a retained life estate
- Create a life estate based on more than one life. This will preserve the use of the property for you and a loved one, such as a spouse or dependent child
- Receive a federal income tax deduction for the value of the remainder interest in your home or farm
- Preserve your lifetime use and control of your home or farm
Life Estates Work for Spouses Too - The life estate can last for your life or based on your life and that of another person, such as a spouse or loved one.
Mortgage Debt - It is possible for you to make a gift of your property even though there is a mortgage upon the residence.
Maintenance Issues - You will be responsible for the maintenance, insurance and taxes on the property, just as you were prior to creating the life estate.
Life Estates Are Flexible - If, at some point in the future, you are no longer able to live independently in your home, we may be able to help you use your life estate to create a lump sum cash payment (with a joint sale) or create an income stream (using the life estate to fund a charitable remainder trust or charitable gift annuity).