"Usufruct?"

[lafrteacher]

One of our "assets" is my hubby's mother's home. In Louisiana, half of the father's estate must be left to the surviving children.

It's not worth very much (in disrepair from 2 hurricanes), and we would own only 1/8 if it was ever sold, which wouldn't be for years. Our lawyer said that the asset is not worth very much because of "usufruct", that is, hubby's mother is living in the house, and will be for years to come.

Any one familiar with this? What do you think the trustee would do about it?
Our lawyer listed the asset as $1500.00.

[justbroke]

Any one familiar with this? What do you think the trustee would do about it? Our lawyer listed the asset as $1500.00.

I would first think that the Trustee couldn't care less about usufruct. However, the Trustee may pay to get it appraised and then ask you to buy out that equity.

Who even knows... are you sure the title is even clear/clean on the property? The Trustee may just abandon it, because if your "share" is only $1,500, it may not even be worth the effort. But I would think moreso because it's just a pain to deal with... not usufruct.

[AngelinaCatHub]

It will no doubt be abandoned. 1500 bucks is nothing and if the Mother has a "life estate" or equivalent, they won't bother with it. I would put it in the category as a liability as to get anything out of it, you would have to improve it more than it's value. Worry not. 'Hub

[music12]

of all the strange words i have seen in my life, "usufruct" takes the cake! i can't even imagine how to pronounce it.

[justbroke]

of all the strange words i have seen in my life, "usufruct" takes the cake! i can't even imagine how to pronounce it.

Well it comes from the Latin usufructuarius, probably old middle English (Oxford), and not quite commonly used here. But since many of our laws are based on English Common Law... but I've never seen it used before. But it does make a point with one word. Image having to say... the person has the right of use of the property until such time that they die... sorta like a Living Estate, but not quite.

Or... he's a usufructus.

Sounds nasty.

[aces67]

We have land but it's in a life estate. My lawyer said the trustee wouldn't care b/c it's not actually ours until dh's parents die. It never even came up at our 341.

[lafrteacher]

Had our 341; Trustee did ask a few questions, like a guess of how much it's worth, address, and how many heirs. I mentioned to the Trustee that it's my mother-in-laws' house; not in good shape; we don't even know if it has a clear title. She didn't seem too interested in it. We don't own it, and will probably never see any money from it.

The rest of the 341 went very smoothly, despite us being very nervous. We did sit in on several other meetings, and that helped us to know what to expect. It was mostly the standard questions; sometimes the trustee varied her script depending on the assets of each case. Some people didn't know when to shut up, and talked themselves into having to pay more for their non-exempt assets.