FOR YOUR PRACTICE | ESTATE & TRUST LAW
LIFE ESTATE DEEDS:
A Probate Shortcut with Heirs’ Property Consequences Practice Tips for Preventing Fragmented Ownership BY SHAKISHA A. MORGAN, ESQ.
This article originally appeared in the MSBA Estate and Trust Law Section’s winter 2026 newsletter.
I met a potential client named Brandy, a 50-something-year-old woman seeking probate advice regarding her mother’s home. For years, Brandy had been living with her mother, paying all the bills, and serving as her mother’s primary caregiver. The demands of caregiving had unfortunately strained Brandy’s relationship with her sister, who was much less involved in their mother’s affairs. Nearly two decades before Brandy’s mother passed, she signed a life estate deed leaving her home to Brandy and her sister. However, Brandy’s mother did not complete any further estate planning, leaving no will when she passed away. To complicate matters, Brandy’s sister passed away two years before their mother died. When Brandy tried to get control of her mother’s assets after she died, her sole goal was to ensure she could keep the family home because she could not afford to move. During my deed search, I found that the life estate deed granted the mother’s house to Brandy and her sister without a designation for joint tenancy with rights of survivorship. As such, Brandy and her sister’s
MARYLAND BAR JOURNAL | VOLUME 7 ISSUE 3
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