Legal Memorandum: Validity of a Lease in MN

Issue: Is a lease from the holder of a life estate considered invalid or ineffective without the signatures of the holders of the remainder interests under Minnesota law?

Research found nothing to suggest that a lease from the holder of a life estate is invalid or ineffective without the signatures of the holders of the remainder interests.  Although no Minnesota case was found directly in point, general principles support the view that it is proper for the holder of a life estate to enter a lease of the property, and there is no reason to require the consent or signatures of the remaindermen.  See Kruesal v. United States, 1963 U.S. Dist. Lexis 9440 (D. Minn. 1963) (right to lease the property is normal incident of life estate); Restatement (First) of Property § 124 (“the owner of an estate for life has the power to create any interest in land which includes any or all of the rights, privileges, powers and immunities which constitute the estate for life”).

On the other hand, unless joined by the holders of the remainder interest, the holder of a life estate cannot convey by lease or otherwise any more than his or her own interest; that interest, of course, terminates with his or her death.  See Restatement (First) of Property § 124.  (“When a person, having only an estate for life, purports to transfer an estate greater than the estate for life, his conveyee acquires thereby, as against the owner of a future interest in such land, no right, privilege, power or immunity greater than those had by the conveyor.”); Schrunk v. Andres, 211 Minn. 465, 470 (Minn. 1946) (“A lessor cannot create […]