3 Critical Ways to Build A Productive Relationship With Your Probate Lawyer

3 Critical Ways to Build A Productive Relationship With Your Probate Lawyer

by bella Comment Closed

Congratulations! You’ve found a probate lawyer to handle your probate case, or perhaps to give you some advice as you wrap up the final affairs of a loved one who passed away. But what happens next?

Sure, you know you want a lawyer for a divorce, a real property purchase, or to resolve a deceased person’s last will and testament, but what kind of experience can you expect from a probate lawyer?

2 Ways a Probate Lawyer Can Help You

  • Traditional Full Representation – The traditional method of dealing with a probate is to get a local lawyer who specializes in the probate process. Hiring a lawyer, however, doesn’t mean you’re free to just sit back and relax. You still need to gather and protect assets, pay off bills, and maintain an inventory among many others. Still, it helps to have an expert handling important court-related tasks such as consolidating all necessary paperwork for your case.
  • Coaching And Advice Through The Probate Process – If you have the time to take on the majority of all work in your probate, a lawyer can still help you by providing limited legal assistance. You can hire a lawyer for those times when you need technical help, especially when it comes to specific questions about the probate process.

Contrary to popular belief, most probate cases involve boring paperwork instead of heated squabbles over a real estate property. If the court you’re dealing with provides probate forms for you to fill up, you won’t really need a lawyer—though having one is still convenient of course.

3 Ways To Have A Smooth Working Experience With A Probate Lawyer

Regardless of how you’re working with your probate lawyer, there are several ways to make the experience better and productive for everyone.

  1. Provide Your Lawyer With All The Necessary Information

Make sure you give your lawyer all pertinent documents in your probate case, such as deeds, tax returns, inventories, and insurance policies among others. Getting your paperwork in order can dramatically improve the speed of resolving your case.

  1. Don’t Be Afraid To Ask Questions

If you’re unsure about a certain detail in your case, don’t be afraid to ask for clarifications from your lawyer. However, it’s also important to think out your questions carefully. It’s always better to ask a thoughtful question that’s clear and concise than to go around in circles—this is especially important if you’re being billed by the hour.

  1. Monitor Your Case’s Progress

If you’re an executor working with beneficiaries, you can expect to be asked about when they can expect to receive their inheritances. As such, it’s important to monitor your progress, providing the beneficiaries with timely updates.

The probate lawyer will help keep things organized by giving you a list of crucial dates, such as court hearings and deadlines for claims.

Bottom Line

Although hiring a lawyer tends to be a plus for anyone dealing with a probate case, it’s not a guarantee for success. As such, it’s important to sit down with your lawyer and talk about what goals to set, and what you should do to have a productive relationship.

For more in-depth information, talk to the experts of Global Insight.

 

4 Ways An Inheritance Loan Can Be Beneficial

4 Ways An Inheritance Loan Can Be Beneficial

by bella Comment Closed

The process of probate can be a very long process while waiting for the close of the estate. If you are in urgent need of your inheritance but are forced to wait for the necessary information from the IRS, an inheritance loan may be an option. An inheritance loan will provide a way for you to utilize your inheritance in advance of probate.

What is an Inheritance Loan?

An inheritance loan is also known as an estate loan, a probate loan, or a trust loan. It is a very useful way that allows heirs of an estate that includes real estate, which can be borrowed against when it is going through the trust administrative process. Since you cannot access the assets directly, an inheritance loan is a great way to utilize your inheritance. It can be useful in the following situations:

  • To Get An Inheritance Advance- While waiting for an inheritance to finalize, you may need to deal with some financial obligations, including paying off high interest debt, medical bills, purchasing a home, and the like. An inheritance loan will help you pay for things that are pending using assets that you are entitled to.
  • Division of Interest Among Heirs- If you would like to retain ownership of the physical property in the estate while another heir would prefer to have liquid cash, you can take out an inheritance loan against the property in order to pay the other heir for their interest in the property.
  • Settling Obligations- If the estate has any lingering obligations that need to be met, an inheritance loan can settle those debts, especially if they need to be paid immediately. This can include legal fees, burial costs, or repairing properties.

4 Steps To Get An Inheritance Loan

  1. Research the Option

You should first research the option of an inheritance loan to see if it worth it. There are some tax consequences that come along with it. You will need to speak with the estate’s representative or an attorney to discuss the different tax and interest consequences about the loan as well as talk about different lenders that specialize in inheritance loans.

  1. Choose a Lender

After deciding to go forward with an inheritance loan, you need to choose a lender. You will need to speak to them to obtain information about their standard terms so that you can choose the lender that charges the least amount of interest.

  1. Gather Your Documentation

Next, gather your documentation to get the loan. This will typically include a copy of the will, the official death certificate, and any copies of letters of administration provided by the probate court. You will also need a certification of the amount loaned from the administrator of the estate along with your forms of identification.

  1. Complete Application

The final step is to complete the loan application. This will assign the rights to the amount of your inheritance in addition to the lender’s fee.

Sometimes it can be hard to get approved for an inheritance loan if you have a bad credit history. In cases, it might be easier to apply for a personal loan. According to this website, you see that the application process is a bit easier, in Sweden for example. This source, (http://låna-snabbt.nu/lan-med-betalningsanmarkning/), discusses the possibility to get accepted in Sweden on some lenders, despite having a very bad credit score.

4 Things You Need to Know About Title Companies and What They Do for Homeowners

4 Things You Need to Know About Title Companies and What They Do for Homeowners

by bella Comment Closed

For many people, a home will probably be the single largest financial investment they’ll ever make in their lives, which makes protecting that investment absolutely critical.

Title companies play an important role in helping you protect your investment, providing assistance throughout the real estate transaction, and even well after its closing. Before entering into any kind of real estate transaction or taking any estate loans, it helps to understand just what it is that title companies do and how they can be of service to you.

In this guide, California Probate gives you a quick rundown of what title companies do.

  1. Title Companies Review Titles

Title companies will often have a complex system of departments that work together to search and review titles. These organizations review public real estate records in order to provide the necessary information (often submitted as title reports or commitments to title insurance) to everyone involved in the transaction.

Title companies provide clients with information related to foreclosures, estate tax, as well as information of legal cases involve real estate properties.

  1. Title Companies Act as Closing Agents

Title companies often function as the closing agents for real property transactions. In other words, the company represents each party in the negotiation and transaction process.

As a closing agent, the title company does all the “dirty” work in buying property, which includes:

  • Securing all necessary documents
  • Having these documents affixed with signatures
  • Receiving and distributing transaction payments

Once all involved parties have signed all pertinent documents, the title company will keep these as record documents in the local land records office.

  1. Title Companies Issue Title Insurance

Once a title company identifies a title to be valid, it will then proceed to issue a title insurance policy to insulate the lender or owner against legal problems that may arise from ownership disputes and other similar issues.

Title insurance is unique because it provides protection against future claims that stem from past issues. Title insurance policies also have no annual premiums, with the property buyer paying a one-time premium based on the sale or mortgage value of the property.

There are generally 2 kinds of title insurance:

  • Owner’s title Insurance – Protects the real property owner from title claims and other issues
  • Lender’s title insurance – Protects the mortgage company

  1. Title Companies Also Act as Escrow Officers

Title companies can also function as escrow officers, holding documents and money as instructed by one of, or both of the involved parties.

For example, the property buyer can give the title company the money needed to pay for the down payment of the property. On the other hand, the seller can provide the title company with a signed deed.

As acting escrow officer, the title company will only release the payment and deed once the specific conditions of both the buyer and seller have been met.

Bottom Line

When choosing a title company, don’t hesitate to speak to an agent as many times as you want. You may also want to choose to meet with agents from a shortlist of title companies you’re eyeing before buying the property.

 

 

Do I Need an Estate Loan?

Do I Need an Estate Loan?

by bella Comment Closed

Dealing with the passing of a loved one is already a difficult process. Add to this the administration process of the will and estate, and it can become a lot to deal with. The probate process alone can drag on for 6 months to 3 years.

What if the heirs require access to the estate’s funds in the meantime? The executor of an estate may need to pay for funeral expenses, discharge debts, or settle claims on the estate. Without cash on hand, this can be a difficult situation. This is where estate loans can be helpful.

What Is an Estate Loan?

An estate loan (also known as probate loan or inheritance loan) is a type of short term financing for heirs of an estate. The loan is secured against the assets contained within the estate (which are currently tied up from the administration process).

As mentioned earlier, the processing of an estate can take anywhere from 6 months to up to 3 years. Within this time, the heirs of the estate may need funds to cover funeral costs, etc. An estate loan helps bridge the gap between when assets are tied up in the probate process, and when the assets are finally distributed to the heirs. The loan is repaid once the estate assets are released from administration.

Why Use Estate Loans instead of Other Options?

Most banks are unwilling to loan money to an estate that is in probate or to trusts. This is because the assets in a deceased’s estate are currently tied up in administration or the probate process.

Estate loans are similar to bridging finance loans, offering a solution for short term financing, where banks are unable to do so. Once the administration process is over, the loan is repaid and can be replaced with more conventional options, such as a mortgage.

How Do Estate Loans Work?

An example of a common usage for estate loans is where heirs are left with an inheritance property. There is often more than one heir to the inheritance property and they may have different ideas on how to distribute the property.

One heir may decide they want to keep their share of ownership in the property, while the second heir may want to cash out their share of ownership. In this scenario, an estate loan can be taken out against the property in the estate. The proceeds of the loan can then be used to pay off the second heirs interest in the property, and the ownership of the property is then deeded to the first heir.

After the title of the property is transferred to the heir who wants to keep ownership, they can then refinance the estate loan to a lower cost conventional loan.

Another common usage for an estate loan is to fulfill the obligations of an estate. Some of these include settling debts from the estate, legal fees, funeral expenses and making repairs to a property.

Finally, an heir may take out an estate loan simply because they want an advance on their inheritance. The probate process is lengthy, and an estate loan will allow them to access part of their inheritance before the probate process is finalized.

Depending on your situation, an estate loan can be a helpful solution when undergoing a difficult time. Consider seeking legal and financial advice before making the decision to use an estate loan.