E342 Thank You to Our Listeners!
Anthony S. Park
Based on feedback from you, the audience, we're pausing these episodes and will focus on writing instead: Our blog: Our books on Reviews always appreciated! Thank you for sharing all your amazing questions and stories, and thank you for listening!
info_outline
E341 How Long to Transfer Real Estate After Death
Anthony S. Park
There is no legal time limit to transfer real estate after death. It could happen quickly, or it could take years. We’ve seen cases where the real estate doesn’t get transferred until generations later. A fast sale is ideal, because problems can emerge in the meantime. There is a lag between the date of death and when the executor gets legal authority to handle the property. So, even “fast” isn’t very fast. How long does it take to get preliminary letters? The executor does not have full authority over the estate until he gets letters testamentary (or letters of administration) from...
info_outline
E340 Reasons Not to Make a Loved One the Executor
Anthony S. Park
We’ve talked before about not making a loved one your executor. I recently read an article titled, “.” Here, we’ll add our own perspective for why it’s not a great idea. Being executor can be emotionally difficult It is a duty that begins almost immediately after the death of your loved one. You are grieving the loss while facing a list of daunting tasks. Even normal probate is a lot of work and can be tough while grieving. In a somewhat difficult probate, you . If you are also family and friends with these people, it can be awkward. They will continually ask you when they will...
info_outline
E339 Why Sharing Your Seed Phrase is a Bad Bitcoin Inheritance Plan
Anthony S. Park
In this episode, we will talk about self-custodied bitcoiners (not those who have their coin on an exchange or with a third party). Some bitcoiners share their seed phrase with their spouse or adult children. Or perhaps they share their cloned wallet with those trusted individuals. It’s temptingly easy, essentially . But, as we’ll discuss, it can be insecure for reasons you may not think of. Sharing your seed phrase can be dangerously . Relationships change One reason that this plan is not flexible is because relationships change. Married couples can become divorced or...
info_outline
E338 Should I Sell My Home Before I Die?
Anthony S. Park
This is a very common question that we get from Solo Agers. We’ll review the pros and cons of making that decision. Reasons to sell your home before you die The biggest reason Solo Agers want to sell their home before they die is because they don’t want to leave a mess for their loved ones. Otherwise, there may be a lot of cleaning, maintenance, and packing for the heirs to do. Additionally, the before it is in sellable condition. Another reason is that Solo Agers may want to downsize anyway. Downsizing is a different topic, so we won’t focus on that here. Reasons to...
info_outline
E337 Who Owns a House During Probate?
Anthony S. Park
When someone dies, many folks are confused about who owns the house during probate, right after the death. Technically, the heirs own it immediately upon death, subject to debts and taxes of the estate. But, sometimes is not clear who the heirs are. The probate process decides who exactly are the heirs and places an executor in charge to sort out all those debts and taxes. So, the heirs own the house, but if it is not clear who the heirs are, then you kind of need to wait to see who really owns it. Understandably, this is a bit confusing. We’ll cover common questions on who owns the property...
info_outline
E336 Risks of Being an Executor
Anthony S. Park
What are the risks of being an executor? An executor has a lot of power and responsibility during probate, but is correspondingly accountable for everything that happens within the estate. We’ll cover how an executor has risk of even personal liability, how long that risk lasts, and how an executor can protect himself from these risks. Executor personally liable for debts and taxes The executor has personal liability for debts, taxes, and anything wrong with the estate. If an executor makes an error, the court’s first reaction is to deny payment of the executor's commission. If the...
info_outline
E335 Why a Letter of Instruction for Bitcoin Inheritance Will Fail
Anthony S. Park
A letter of instruction will likely fail for your bitcoin inheritance plan and should have only a marginal role in your plan, if any. Search for “bitcoin inheritance” and you will probably find lots of people advising you to write a letter of instruction for your heirs. We talked about this and even provided a . Now, having spent a bit more time delving into different approaches to bitcoin inheritance, we’re de-emphasizing a letter of instruction. Note: this applies to self-custodied bitcoin, not held through a third-party. Educate your heirs A letter of instruction is a subcategory the...
info_outline
E334 Why Hire a Professional Trustee?
Anthony S. Park
I do serve as a professional trustee, not just executor, or our Solo Ager clients. We’ll cover why our Solo Ager clients are looking for a professional trustee, why they don’t use banks, and how much it costs to hire a professional trustee. Disputes between trustee and beneficiary Why are our Solo Ager clients looking for a professional trustee? The main reason is because of potential disputes between the trustee and the beneficiaries. Unfortunately, this kind of conflict is very common, even more so than between heirs and executors. A trust creates a much longer relationship: an estate...
info_outline
E333 Seller Credit When Selling Probate Real Estate
Anthony S. Park
This happens when the buyer agrees to a higher contract price, but the seller also agrees to credit back a set amount to the buyer, so the net purchase price is lower. For example, if the buyer wants the house for $250,000, they would set the contract price at $300,000 with a side agreement that the seller would credit $50,000 on the closing statement, effectively making the price $250,000. Why not just a price reduction? Co-ops (and sometimes condos and homeowners’ associations) want the closing price to be (artificially) higher to maintain their average price per square foot. They don’t...
info_outlineWhen we chat with new clients, we ask them why they chose to look for and hire a professional executor. Here are the 5 most common answers. Perhaps you will see yourself in one of these situations.
1. There’s no one else
There may not be any close family or friends due to old age or because the client is a Solo Ager. Or maybe a client does have close family and friends, but they do not live nearby, they have no time, or they are not financially savvy.
2. Went through being an executor and hated it
We have clients who served as executors and hated it. Because they hated being an executor, there is no way they want to burden a loved one with the task.
It could be the other way around: the friend or family member who they want to nominate was already an executor once and hated it, too.
3. Fees are the same, so you may as well get a professional
Once clients realize that the executor fee is exactly the same for a professional executor versus a family member or friend, they can’t believe it! In most states, the law is the same. Whether it’s your unemployed nephew who needs money to start a rock band versus a seasoned professional with an experienced staff versus a bank: If you have that choice and the fees are going to be the same, why wouldn’t you name a professional executor?
In fact, hiring a professional executor may even cost less. An experienced and professional staff can reduce costs due to economies of scale, better deals with vendors, etc. We minimize a lot of losses because we can often do things quicker.
4. Banks won’t take the client or charge fees or require certain investments
Many come to us after being rejected by their bank/brokerage, even if they have plenty of money and have been loyal customers for years.
Or sometimes, they are in the process of getting the bank to agree to serve as executor. But there are so many layers of committees and approvals from the bank. Those people come to us because we provide a more personal experience. With a bank, you’ll never talk to the person who will be the executor; it’s just “the bank.”
Lastly, people don’t like the bank’s requirement that a certain amount of money must be invested with them to qualify. You probably need between $3 million and $5 million just to talk to the bank. The bank also requires very specific investments: your money has to be invested in Brokerage Account “A” and the underlying investments must be in the Brokerage's created funds. To put it bluntly, this is how banks can charge more fees.
5. Age gap siblings
This is similar to our #1 reason above, but more often we are seeing age gap siblings. Since we’ve been seeing this specific situation more often, we thought it was worth mentioning as its own reason. For whatever family reason, we’re seeing clients whose next closest sibling is 25 years older or younger! They don’t have a tight relationship due to the large age gap.
On the other hand, we have clients whose siblings are almost the same age, which doesn’t give an elderly client much hope that a fellow elderly sibling will be able to fulfill the duties of an executor. You want someone who will survive you or be young enough to handle stressful situations.
These are all great reasons to check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor,” available on Amazon. If you are part of our monthly email list, we give away one free paperback copy a month!
Request your free consultation