Q: For a life estate deed, how do I describe the grantees? Ex: A is transferring to B for life of C with remainder to D?

A: Please hire a lawyer to draft and record this deed. If you do it wrong nobody will know until the death of the life tenant and by then it can’t be fixed. Penny wise and pound foolish.

A: I utterly agree with Mr. Oakley. The cost is so little to pay that it’s like pennies, and the cost of the screw up in today’s dollars would be in the range of $50,000 to $200,000, and that’s probably just the legal fees. Yikes.

A: The Grantees are persons receiving an interest in property. So if B holds a life estate during C's life (it isn't clear why one would do this), "C" wouldn't be a grantee.

There are a variety of ways one can transfer lifetime interests in property, with a host of different tax and other ramifications. For example, the tax consequences of a life estate deed with powers are much different than a life estate without powers. The A,B,C&D scenario you mention is certainly atypical. It may help to understand what exactly the current owner "A" is trying to accomplish and why they are relinquishing all current rights in the property and giving to "B" to be measured by "C"'s life, with "D" ultimately owning the property. Very generally speaking the more complicated an owner's desires are with respect to a piece of property, the less it makes sense to outline in a deed and the more it makes sense to set up a trust, transfer the property to trust and spell out in such document.

As other attorneys noted, the cost to have an attorney prepare a deed is generally pretty low, the risks of preparing a deed without completely understanding the situation can be high, and when dealing with any kind of atypical structure it is highly advised to seek legal counsel. While not legal advice I hope that this helps answer the original question.