A conventional life estate is one created by the act of the parties. If may be for the life of the tenant, for the life or lives of others, or for the lives of the tenant and another jointly.10 The life estate was the estate originally favored by the common law. No particular words of limitation were required for the creation of a life estate (as in the case of the creation of estates in fee-simple or fee-tail). Where a grant was made to a person without any words of limitation he would be held to take a life estate. The law in this respect has been changed in the United States, where today a grant without any words of limitation will convey a fee-simple (or all the grantor's interest if such interest is less than a fee-simple estate).

10 Tenant for term of life is, where a man letteth lands or tenements to another for the terms of the life of the lessee, or for term of the life of another man. In this case the lessee is tenant for term of life. But by common speech he, which holdeth for term of his own life, is called tenant for term of his life; and he, which holdeth for term of another's life, is called tenant for term of another man's life. Coke's Institutes.

The term "life estate" was formerly extended so as to include all freeholds not of inheritance. It, therefore, embraces an estate for an uncertain period which may continue during a life or lives. Such would be a grant to a woman during widowhood.

A peculiar rule of inheritance formerly existed in the case of estates for the life of another, or estates per anter vie, as they are called. Such an estate terminates with the death or the cestui que vie and does not expire with the death of the tenant. At common law it could not descend to the heirs, for the law of descent applies only to estates of inheritance. It could not pass to the executor or administrator, for they could take only chattel interests, and this estate was a freehold. At common law it was permitted for any one who first took possession to hold such estate, and he was called the general occupant. This right of general occupancy could only be exercised where there were no persons designated in the grant who could take as special occupants. If the grant was to A, and his heirs during the life of B the heirs would take as special occupants, to the exclusion of the general occupant.

This principle has now been done away with, and such an estate would descend to the heirs of the tenant for life, who could hold it during the lifetime of the party for whose life the estate was limited. The life estate known as the estate tail after possibility of issue is extinct, has been already treated in the section on estates (tail).