Solving Probate Problems and Dealing with Trusts
To be a successful real estate investor, you have to know how to handle land trusts. A phrase that I like to use as a motto is “Own nothing. Control everything.” This falls true for all of the incredibly successful real estate investors I know.
I want to share with you a situation I’m dealing with right now concerning a distant relative who passed away. Another family member of mine was mentioned as the next closest relative but she has dementia and her living husband is old and can’t remember much. The main struggle is the relative who passed away never talked to her family about her financial affairs so no one has any information.
We know she has a living trust but no one has a copy. The attorney who created it is now out of business and can’t be found. I called the county clerk where my relative lives and they were able to tell me that the deed was transferred into a living trust. But no one can locate the living trust and now we can’t even remove the body from the hospital because no one has the legal right to do so. We’re going to have to use attorneys and courts just to determine who can claim the relative’s body.
Let this be a warning to you. After you establish a living trust, make sure several relatives know how they can access it if you don’t want to give them a copy while you’re still alive. I have a detailed paper in a folder in my filing cabinet that explains all the details of my trusts so my family won’t have to guess or go through this same situation we’re experiencing with my relative.
During my Three-Day Land Trusts Boot Camp, I give a copy of the same form I use to each participant. I also teach out to do land trusts for a property so you can establish your beneficiaries. If you do your own land trusts using the template I provide, you avoid the hundreds of dollars other people will charge you. In addition, instructions and documents are given for completing a deed and assignment. Sign up for this class so you can prevent your family from dealing with a horrible, frustrating situation of not even being able to claim you after you’ve passed.
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