Inspect what you expect.
When my kids were teenagers and early drivers, a phrase that I would use with them just before they took the car was, “Make wise choices.” The statement I used to share with them that led to this was, “a clever person knows how to get out of situations that a wise person knows never to get into, so make wise choices.” It’s my belief that it’s best to “inspect what you expect” versus leaving things to chance. Right now, people are working from home and have no commute time, are not traveling or going out to meetings or entertainment. This time savings is an opportunity to take a look at things you procrastinate about.
Your real estate holdings, which in most cases is your biggest asset, should be reviewed on an annual basis to confirm that the ownership you expect on the title, is the ownership listed on the title. From experience and our clients, I know that the most common requests we have are either adding a spouse on the title or transferring a property to a living trust. It’s often only after a major life event that our clients then wonder if their property actually is owned the way they think it is. We find about 50% of the time that they were not aware when they purchased the property that their lender had in fact, had the spouse relinquish interest on the home. Another common scenario is that they believed that the closing agent was going to transfer the property into their living trust, which did not occur.
If you or someone you know feels they are particularly at risk due to the virus, it may bring peace of mind to know that all real property is protected, “just in case.” In order to bring peace of mind that property is protected, the first step is to inspect both the deed and the title. The deed may have left off language commonly known as, “right of survivorship.” A little over a year ago, prior to my father’s passing, he thought he was protecting his property, “just in case”, however the person that created the deed left off critical language and what’s referred to as “vesting” which caused me to have to go to probate to transfer the home back into the trust.
At Quick Claim USA, we believe in the “concierge experience” which means we review each scenario, one by one, and look for ways to help our clients make wise decisions to protect their biggest asset(s) from probate. It would be much easier for us to create an online form for our clients to complete, however, we take a more personal approach and speak with all of our clients. We want to understand their objective so we can guide them in getting there.
While you find yourself dealing with the current situation, our suggestion is to use some of your extra time to inspect the ownership of the property and make sure it is the way you expect it to be. Wise choices now save you time trying to be clever later.
Quick Claim USA and their employees are not attorneys in the State of Nevada or in any other State or Jurisdiction. Quick Claim USA is not licensed to give legal advice and may not accept fees for giving legal advice. Should you have questions regarding any of the above items, you must seek the advice of independent legal/tax counsel of your choosing.
