As the executor, you could enter into written agreements with your brothers to acquire their interest contingent upon financing in the form a reverse mortgage. It could then be presented to the court for its approval., if required by the jurisdiction that you are in.

Upon approval you... View More

First of all, your sister has no authority to control any property until a will is probated or an intestate (no will) proceeding is initiated and she is appointed as the Personal Representative. If you cannot find a will, then it may be a good idea for you to initiate such a proceeding and ask that... View More

Whether the estate underwent probate with a will or without one ("intestate") determines this. Most wills have a provision that allows reimbursement for court expenses and reasonable fees. Explicit statements of this provision are not uncommon. To be safe, you'll need the... View More

If the couple is jointly on the mortgage, the surviving spouse should continue making the payments under the mortgage agreement. Nothing should change based upon the fact pattern as presented. However, if household income has decreased since the death of a spouse, consider a mortgage modification... View More

Once the loan has been made and the mortgage granted, "qualification" for the loan is not an issue, provided that the loan is a standard residential mortgage. Some commercial loans, in contrast, have financial covenants that are an ongoing obligation on the part of the business to... View More

Something doesn’t ’add up’ here. If there was a trust there wouldn’t have been probate absent someone doing something wrong.

If the probate is closed you may need to reopen it but life insurance doesn’t usually go through probate at all unless there is a failure to name a... View More

He may have listed you as a beneficiary on either retirement, investment or bank account rather than needing this for a will/trust.

He SHOULD have told you why he wanted the info!

As for finding out about a will — do you know who he would name as the personal representative?... View More

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answered on Dec 6, 2024

You want the highest stepped up in value you can get to lower your potential capital gains upon you selling it later. However the higher the value, the more property taxes each year. You might start by looking at the tax appraisal value. Comparable sales will probably be higher than what the... View More

Michigan has very specific rules about taxable values in inherited properties that are not something out of state lawyers (or most lay people!) will understand or know about.

Have a MICHIGAN attorney, preferably in the county where the property is located, draft the deed for you, and... View More

Sure there are ways from ladybird deeds to naming beneficiaries and SOS affidavits, but without examining details anything offered here would be speculation and not good advice.

Plus, your house, car and bank account are in total worth less than $15k? Something seems off.

Bottom... View More

Yes, you could - subject to some caveats - move assets to a trust after taking a loan on the asset. By taking a loan on the asset, I'm guessing you mean you've borrowed money that is secured by a lien on the asset.

The most common situation where this comes up is where a person... View More

Probably not, and depending on where in the probate process the estate and what type of estate it is, it could be unlawful or at least unwise for the personal representative to do so.

The person wanting to buy the house could propose a promissory note agreed to by the personal... View More

I concur this isn’t a ‘crime’ so be careful how you approach this. A ‘crime’ requires intent and this — particularly with the response of the company trying to ‘make it right’ — shows there is no criminal intent, just a very unfortunate mistake. It is ‘negligence’ at best and... View More

It very much matters whether both names were on the deed. It also matters - moreso - whether this newly created trust was funded. That would mean a deed was signed by the now deceased spouse placing the home into the trust. Even with that, the surviving spouse could elect his or her spousal... View More

You will certainly need a court order. No medical facility is going to proceed otherwise on such an old directive, especially when there has been care to the contrary since then. There's simply way too much liability here to get it wrong.

You probably don't need a codicile for this as much as you do a change to your life insurance's beneficiary designation. Unless your beneficiary designation calls for your insurance to go to your estate, the insurance company will pay out whomever is listed on the beneficiary designation... View More

They both could be legally binding. It depends on what the first trust says happens to the funds once one spouse dies (in this case, the husband died first). That trust could say "once the first spouse dies, everything goes to the surviving trust". If that's the case, then the... View More

They could try, but they would need to fall within the priority list of people who can serve as a personal representative - generally meaning they would need to be more closely related to the deceased person. AND they would need to convince the probate court judge that you are not performing your... View More

If your spouse dies before you, you would then legally be considered single. To the extent your spouse does not have an estate plan, joint accounts, or beneficiary designations to the contrary, the lion's share of his or her property would go to you as the surviving spouse, with any remainder... View More

You transfer your property interest to someone else, usually one or all of the other co-tenants since they are the ones who will get the most value from that. HOW you do that depends on what you would like to get out of the deal. The best response is to contact a local lawyer to discuss your... View More