Articles – Real Estate Deeds Made Easy Since 1997
Mortgages can span decades. Naturally, not all homeowners outlive these long-term loans. Here, we discuss what happens when a homeowner passes away with a loan still on the home. This can be a tough topic to confront, but reviewing the potential scenarios will help you prepare for the possibility.
Continue reading “What Happens If the Mortgage on Your Home Outlives You?”
Five years ago in Texas, John died, willing his house to a nephew, A.W.
Today, A.W. wants to get ready to sell the house, and pay off some debt.
Here’s the rub. The will never went through probate, and a different relative of John’s has been living in the home all this time.
Who gets the house?
A.W. was named as the next owner in the will, and never refused the deed. So, legally, A.W. owns it, right? Wrong. Procrastination is the thief of assets, as A.W. learned the hard way. A will does not enact itself. It has to be probated according to a timeline.
Continue reading “If You Inherit a House, Act. A Cautionary Tale About Putting Off Probate”
Homes are complicated assets. When a homeowner dies, this becomes obvious. When loved ones are experiencing grief and loss, the real estate details can border on overwhelming.
If someone in your life died holding an interest in real estate, here is some general guidance. You might have some actions to take, depending on the situation.
Continue reading “When a Spouse, Partner, or Relative Dies: What’s Next for the Home?”
Looking at homes in a 55+ community? You might wonder: Will I be able to leave my age-restricted condo home to my children?
Before buying your new home in an age-restricted community, check the homeowners’ association rules on inheritance. Your realtor might have mentioned two pertinent guidelines these communities follow: the nationwide 80/20 rule, and the property’s own minimum age rule. We’ll flesh out these guidelines here.
Continue reading “Age-Restricted Communities: How They Affect Your Real Estate”
States can go after the assets of people 55 and older who have relied on government-funded medical services. Do states actually wield this authority? If they do, can people protect their homes from these recovery actions? Here are the basics to explore with your estate planning expert.
Continue reading “Medicare and Medicaid: Can They Take Your Home?”
Ready to move estate planning to the front burner? Homeowners, especially, need to have a plan in place. If there is no will, and no other arrangements for the home to pass to a co-owner, it will pass according to the state intestacy provisions. That’s not an estate plan. There’s no better time than the present to choose a beneficiary, and make an estate plan.
Here is the basic set of options, and how they might play out—financially, legally, and in emotional terms. We include a few tips to note in the process. Any or all could be a great conversation starter with your lawyer or financial adviser. Schedule a talk with family or other beneficiaries, too.
Continue reading “Homeowner Estate Planning: Real Estate Tips”
Time to start a new chapter in your life? A reverse mortgage can be an option if your goals include:
A reverse mortgage is available to homeowners who have paid off most or all of their mortgages. The name describes a lender’s monthly payments to the homeowner, rather than the reverse.
Continue reading “Should You Get a Reverse Mortgage? Consider This.”
We’ve talked about scams, and the risks that can be involved in delegating a power of attorney to another person. Now, let’s uplift the mood. Visualize the day you submit that very last mortgage payment.
Congrats! Your debt is satisfied.
Your certificate of satisfaction can now be recorded in the county where your home is. If your home is in a deed of trust state, the deed of trust now comes off your title. A deed of reconveyance is the deed of trust state’s equivalent to the deed of release of mortgage.
Continue reading “The Golden Years, With a Paid-Off Mortgage”
More than a third of the U.S. population is now in the over-50 set. As the seniority trend continues, expect the rate of financial exploitation to rise accordingly. Be aware. Keep tabs on what elders need to look out for. Here, we review the kinds of financial manipulation happening on a large scale today.
Continue reading “Fraud, Scams, and Power of Attorney Problems”
When someone who owns real property dies, the property goes into probate or it automatically passes, by operation of law, to surviving co-owners. Often, surviving co-owners do nothing with the title for as long as they own the property. Yet the best practice is to remove the deceased owner’s name from the title.
Here, we review some common scenarios, and reasons to update a home’s title after an owner’s death.
Continue reading “Should You Remove a Deceased Owner from a Real Estate Title?”