How is a legal life estate created?

A legal life estate is typically created by operation of law, meaning that it arises automatically under specific circumstances without the need for a voluntary action from the property owner. This can occur through statutory provisions or legal principles that dictate how estates are formed. For instance, a life estate can be established when a property is inherited by an individual, which could be due to the death of the owner, thereby granting the heir a legal life estate in the property.

In contrast, an owner's voluntary grant would typically refer to the creation of an estate through a deed or similar document, which is not the mechanism for a legal life estate. The four unities, which refer to the conditions that must be met for the creation of a joint tenancy, do not apply to life estates. A defeasible conveyance involves a type of ownership that can be revoked under certain conditions, but it does not create a life estate by itself. Therefore, the best description of how a legal life estate is created is through operation of law, which reflects the automatic and legal nature of its establishment.