Pur autre vie is a legal term derived from French meaning “for the life of another.” In real property law, it describes an estate or interest in land that lasts for the lifetime of a person other than the holder of the interest. A tenant holding an estate pur autre vie has the right to possess and use the property until the death of the designated measuring life, at which point the estate automatically terminates.
Estates pur autre vie most commonly arise when a life tenant transfers their interest to another person or when a property grant is expressly tied to the life of a third party. For example, if property is conveyed to an individual for the life of another named person, the estate continues only as long as that person remains alive. Although relatively uncommon in modern transactions, estates pur autre vie remain an important concept in property law because they illustrate how ownership rights can be divided and limited by the duration of a specified life.
