A life tenant cannot sell the property
A worked RES examination question on life estates, from our Paper 1 bank — with the rule it turns on, and why each of the four options is right or wrong.
The question
Madam Yap's friend's advice that she simply sell the shophouse is examined.
Which statement is correct?
The answer, and why
Answer: A
The rule. A life tenant cannot sell the property. She may occupy it and take the income; she cannot dispose of an estate she does not hold.
Why A is correct. The interest she holds does not carry a power of sale.
The other options.
- B is the friend's advice, resting on occupation and on five years of payments.
- C offers the bank's consent as the missing element, which would matter if the obstacle were the mortgage; it is not.
- D allows the sale on terms about the proceeds, which addresses Kok Leong's interest and still assumes a power she has never had.
Exam note. Keeping up the mortgage payments for five years is the strongest equitable argument in the narrative and carries no legal weight at all on this question.
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