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answered on Feb 27, 2023
As Mr Cozart said, 'it depends'.
Anywhere between 'free' if you use a DIY form of dubious quality you might find on the internet to $10,000 for a full estate plan for someone who wants trusts and has multi-millions in assets and has tax planning issues that make things... View More 
4 children all in agreement no other assets
answered on Feb 21, 2023
If the total value of all vehicles owned by the deceased does not exceed $60,000 and that the estate of the deceased is not being probated and will NOT be probated then there is an ‘expedited’ process involving only the Secretary of State and not the Probate Court.
But I would STRONGLY... View More
My deceased brother had no spouse, children, or living parents and passed w/o a will. 5 of 6 siblings are trying to start Probate and 1 sibling is refusing to cooperate in this process, and won't sign the document to allow for assignment of PR to my sister. What do we do to start Probate?
answered on Feb 18, 2023
Ms Archie is correct, but if there is disagreement, it makes a LOT of sense to discuss this with a probate attorney FIRST. Your sibling may well be correct that probate is not necessary.
Explain the facts and why you think probate is needed (it probably is, but it may not be!) and have... View More
My home went into foreclosure in 2020 and I sold it 2 weeks into the redemption. I got a 1099-s, discharge of mortgage from the vice president of the company and a closure of account. I also walked away with a check from the sale. I am being told that I have a $26,000 balance on my credit report... View More
answered on Feb 15, 2023
This is FAR more detailed and complicated than can be properly dealt with in a public forum like this.
At a minimum, your attorney will need to see all the written documents (like that 1099 and discharge of mortgage) and look at the documents recorded with the register of deeds.... View More
I went into foreclosure due to divorce in 2020 my house was sold and I recieved a release of mortgage(from the VP of my mortgage company signed by a notary public) and an account paid in full letter only to find out I had a deficiency on the balance. My mortgage company admitted years later they... View More
answered on Feb 3, 2023
This is a little more complicated.
Was the discharge recorded? Do you have the written acknowledgment of payment in full? Did you rely on those representations when closing on the transaction? Did you get a 1099 showing the write off?
If ALL of the above is true, you have a pretty... View More
My son is being convicted of CSC 1 and 2 counts CSC 2. The victims in the case are my younger kids. My younger kids are worried that they are going to be removed from the home. And the probation officer just scared them today by just showing up. So I was just wondering if a probation officer... View More
answered on Feb 1, 2023
The PROBATION officer won’t but protective services may have issues.
I hope this is already in the works but, you NEED to have both legal and mental health professional assistance for your family. Seek that help right away.
My brother in law passed away intestate in Michigan 2021, leaving 2 adult sons, no assets. There was never a need to open an estate.
My mother in law passed recently intestate in Georgia and has real estate, etc.
Before we can file for an estate for my mother in law, we have to... View More
answered on Jan 28, 2023
The short answer is 'yes' whenever you open an estate you have to do a LOT of things, including publishing.
The longer answer is -- there are a lot of things that are required, starting with determining whether or not a probate estate is REALLY necessary. How do you come to the... View More
answered on Jan 26, 2023
I'm sorry to hear of your loss.
IF your brother owned the house solely, it will need to go through probate, and his heirs (maybe your mother, maybe not ... it depends on whether or not he had a will, or children, or a spouse etc. none of which you say) so that SOMEONE (be that his... View More
I bought my house 2/2020 and put it up for sale 10/2020 not knowing this was not allowed as I have a RD loan- I used a Realtor and she wrote a bad land contract for the sale. The buyer does not pay as agreed and I want to do a forfeiture but don't trust myself to try alone and really... View More
answered on Jan 24, 2023
Let me rephrase your question slightly and see if you don't spot the 'common thread' here and what you need to do to 'stop the cycle':
1) I bought land without having an attorney review the transaction.
2) I had a real estate agent who is NOT an attorney... View More
We own a parcel of land across the state. We're part of a HOA, although our lot is separated by a half mile from the main grouping of homes that are on a cul-de-sac. The main grouping has voting rights on rules changes, but we do not. The HOA wants to change the Home Rental clause (think Air... View More
answered on Jan 18, 2023
It is impossible to say without reviewing the HOA rules.
The 'short' answer is 'probably'
As a private entity, they can set rules however they want including the rules about amending and voting on rules. If you don't like that, you shouldn't have... View More
Next door neighbor owns a car (junk, not running); the car sits in the back yard between our houses. The car straddles the property line. It's been there for years. I want to clean up my back yard, get landscaping, and put up a fence. The car must be moved. But, my neighbor won't move... View More
answered on Jan 17, 2023
IF (and that is a HUGE unknown!) the car is on your land, the neighbor is trespassing.
Are you 100% Absolutely Positively Undeniably CERTAIN of us on your land? You can have it removed but not necessarily onto the neighbor’s land — unless they neighbor consents to that. (You don’t... View More
It was agreed I pay month to month after March as I was in the process of looking and buying a home, which I found in April and was moved in by May 2018. I moved out at the end of May notified the complex like agreed and left the keys, four years later I'm being sued for June and July rent,... View More
answered on Jan 6, 2023
Do you have COPIES of the documents you delivered returning the keys and providing your forwarding address?
Without copies, you didn't send them (the landlord WILL claim this!)
Your best bet at this point is to hire an attorney to fight this or just pay (a probably smaller... View More
ensure it runs to successors. (ie "runs with the land") in a recorded document.
answered on Dec 30, 2022
That is 'step one' but there is more to this than generally meets the eye. Consulting with a local real estate lawyer is the BEST way to insure this is done right.
Indeed buying property without an attorney is essentially the equivalent of buying a pig in a poke.
SELLING... View More
On our mortgage paperwork at closing showed our principal/interest payment was $1,100. They said they miscalculated and said it’s now $1,500. They offered to pay $800 for the 2 months that were miscalculated. Just want to know if we are legally obligated to sign a new closing disclosure with new... View More
answered on Dec 22, 2022
Without reviewing your whole closing package it is impossible to know what your situation is. Did you sign an ‘errors and Omissions’ addendum? What exactly is the ‘error’? Something with your escrow? Did you have an attorney review the paperwork before you closed? They might have caught the... View More
answered on Dec 8, 2022
Your question got cut off and isn't really a question.
HOWEVER, I can answer.
You need to take your lease and that notice to quit and records showing whether or not you have paid the lease as agreed to a local attorney ASAP. We can't provide an answer here because the... View More
My mother wants to pass the house on to me when she passes, but she also has the potential to be in long term care in the couple years. Will medicare take our house if she goes into long term care (or do they even currently have a lien due to my deceased father being in a nursing home)? How can we... View More
answered on Dec 5, 2022
There are ways to keep the house from being 'recovered' by Medicare (in Michigan) currently, but you need to insure it is done right or your mother may not be ELIGIBLE for Medicare.
Seek the advice and drafting assistance of a local probate / elder law attorney to be sure you do... View More
We would like to do this tax-free. He is married as am I. Is there a way to do this?
answered on Dec 4, 2022
There are several ways to do this and MANY wrong ways.
A Quit claim deed is one but you need to appropriately record transfer affidavits and report the gift properly. There probably won’t be tax due but depending on how you structure things a return may be due. The rules are complicated... View More
winning in the courts. Our attorney filed a motion to enforce a mediation agreement without our permission and has other small missteps because he appears to want to be done yet we don't know if another attorney will take us. Our case is good.
answered on Nov 28, 2022
Did you accept mediation? Then the Court case is over, whether or not it is a 'winning' case. So the question then becomes:
Is your attorney telling you since you accepted the mediation award, the case is over and you don't like that? Sorry, your attorney would be correct if... View More
We maintain the land and have only six feet easement beyond the road at that point in the easement. She shares the easement in that area. Since she benefits and there is no other place to put the snow, if the land I push over the embankment lands on her land is it illegal?
answered on Nov 26, 2022
Whose land is the easement on? Yours or hers? It sounds from your question that hers is the 'dominant estate' and yours is the subservient one?
If that is the case, then you are moving snow from HER land that you have a right to use, onto HER land, that you don't have a... View More
We have a mortgage on the house. And it is in both of our names. Can my boyfriend leave his half in a will or trust?
answered on Nov 21, 2022
That depends on HOW you own in jointly. If it is as 'tenants in common' then you or your boyfriend can certainly leave a fractional half to anyone, but the VALUE of an "undivided half interest" in a house is pretty difficult to set.
If the house is owned 'with... View More
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