Donate Your Home With a Retained Life Estate

A retained life estate lets you give your home or farm to charity now while continuing to live in it for the rest of your life. You sign the deed today, keep the right to live there, and the property passes to Real Estate with Causes when the life estate ends. It is one of the few partial-interest gifts the tax code allows a deduction for, and we review each one case by case.

Tell us about the property

Every property gets a look. Name, phone and email are the only required fields.

Unique Property Asset Donation Intake

What kind of interest is it?

Describe it in your own words

This is the field that matters most on this form.

Where is it? City, state and ZIP

Estimated Property Value?

What share do you hold?

Does it produce income?

What documents do you have?

A deed, a lease, a division order, a certificate, a court order.

How a retained life estate works

You deed the property to us and keep a life estate: the right to live in it and use it for your lifetime, or for your life and your spouse’s. We hold the remainder interest, which becomes full ownership when the life estate ends.

While you live there, you continue to pay property taxes, insurance and maintenance, just as you do now. After the life estate ends, the property is ours and is usually sold to fund our programs.

What qualifies

The tax code allows a deduction for a remainder interest in a personal residence or a farm. That includes a vacation home you use personally, but not most other property.

The tax side of a life estate gift

The deduction is the present value of the remainder interest, not the full value of the house. It is calculated from the appraised value, your age and IRS actuarial tables, and it is taken in the year you sign the deed.

A qualified appraisal and Form 8283 are required. Because the gift is irrevocable, and you keep the costs of ownership during your lifetime, this is a decision to make with your advisor and your family.

What to have ready when you call

This is a planning conversation, and your advisor should be involved.

Ages of the life tenants

Yours, and your spouse’s if the life estate covers both of you.

The property’s approximate value

A recent appraisal or tax assessment is enough to start.

Any mortgage or liens

Property with debt is more complicated for a life estate gift and is reviewed case by case.

Retained life estate questions, answered

Can I still live in the house after I donate it? +

Yes, for the rest of your life, and your spouse’s if the life estate is written for both of you. That is the point of a retained life estate.

Who pays the taxes and repairs while I live there? +

You do. As the life tenant you keep the costs of ownership, including property taxes, insurance and maintenance, the same as today.

How is the deduction calculated? +

It is the present value of the remainder interest, based on the appraised value, your age and IRS tables. It is always less than the full value of the property, and you take it in the year of the gift.

Can I change my mind later? +

No. The deed is irrevocable. If you move out later, the life estate can sometimes be released to us or the property sold with the proceeds split, but those are new arrangements, not a reversal.

How is this different from a charitable gift annuity? +

With a life estate you keep living in the property and receive no payments. With a gift annuity you give up the property now and receive fixed payments. They suit different goals.

We do not provide tax or legal advice. See IRS Publication 526, Publication 561 and the Form 8283 instructions, and consult your own advisor.