‘Life Tenant’s Duty’

I think that columnist Robert J. Bruss usually does an excellent job of informing the public on real estate issues. But in the Aug. 11 issue he was not only uninformative but insensitive.

A letter writer asked what he should do about his mother, who held a life estate in a home the son hoped to inherit. The mother wasn’t keeping up the property, and the son feared that little value would be left when she finally died. The son also stated that his mother was senile and that he had little contact with her because she was “difficult.”

Bruss ignored the obvious part that the woman’s medical condition (possibly Alzheimer’s disease or a treatable depression) was having upon her decision-making powers about the home and instead provided the legal arguments the son could use to force her out of the house. He was advised to consult a real estate attorney, but not a medical professional or social service agency to assist his mother.

The strict legal response might have been all that was asked for, but Bruss should have thrown in a lecture to the son as well. He might also want to consider a column about how Medi-Cal rules apply to real estate.

JEAN RUECKER

Simi Valley