Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby
If someone has a lot of money and/or assets, in Florida, everything has to go through probate before the beneficiaries of that money/assets can take their inheritance. That's unless there's a Trust, or if it's all cash under the mattress or in a wall safe and the beneficiary gets to it before the lawyers do.
If you don't have a Trust, then your kids will have to wait while a lawyer makes sure that anyone who is OWED money - utility companies, mortgage and/or loans, taxes, the handyman, the roofing company, the dogsitter - gets what is owed to them first. Beneficiaries get their appointed share of whatever is left over.
With a Trust, the beneficiaries already technically own it all. At the declaration of death, it transfers automatically, because the deceased's name is simply removed from the proof of ownership.
|
If you place POD (Pay on Death) on your bank accounts, check (annually) that your beneficiaries are listed correctly on insurance, pensions, etc., and do an ‘enhanced Lady Bird Deed’ on each Real Property held, check unclaimed property in your states, do a Transfer on Death Deed for investments or list beneficiaries thereon, there may be no need for Probate. In many other states, Transfer on Death deeds are used for real estate; the issue with them is they are not triggering reimbursement to Medicaid for help with nursing home expenses, which many middle class people with savings often need.