Q: Can a will be written stating that a house is to be sold and proceeds distributed equally among the beneficiaries?
In order to prevent a petition to the court for partition if one of the beneficiaries refuses to sell wouldn't it be better to have the will state the house is to be sold and proceeds divided equally among the beneficiaries? That way the house is never actually in the beneficiaries names.
A: Anything left by way of a will has to go through a probate process which is expensive and time consuming. The parent(s) should have a revocable living trust which avoids probate and can specify exactly what your parent wants to happen to all of the assets, including the house. Because one child is receiving SSI, a supplemental needs trust should be established either now or through the trust. Without this type of special trust, the child could lose their SSI benefits. This is not a project your parent should be doing on their own. An experienced estate planning/elder law attorney should be consulted.
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