The sale of a house in Tucson can become tricky if you are purchasing a house where the homeowner has passed away. If this is the case with your transaction, conveying ownership can easily add on several months to the closing time and engulf your business if you let it. Because of this extra trouble, many prospective buyers will pass up on a good deal just to avoid the hassle and will reduce the number of interested buyers.
If you have a good understanding of how property is conveyed upon death, it will give you an edge against your competition. Here are some examples to show how a property can be conveyed.
Wills and Probate
This is the most common and straightforward transfer of property that there is when there is a Will in place. Once the Will in is enforced and the executor determines the deceased last wishes, if an heir is listed, that individual will take ownership of the property. However, if there isn’t a will in place or the heir has passed away, the process of Probate will begin. Probate will begin in Probate Court and an administrator or “executor” will be appointed. The administrator handles the process of collecting all the assets, paying all the bills, and distributing the remaining assets to the rightful beneficiaries. Oftentimes, beneficiaries who receive ownership of a house just don’t have the time, interest and money to maintain the house. Many beneficiaries are saddled with taxes, insurance, HOA fees, and repair and maintain the property. In many cases it makes much more sense for the beneficiary to sell the inherited property to a cash buyer like Stained Glass Homes in Tucson.
Trusts
Another popular estate planning option to avoid probate is a Trust. Basically, a person or a “Grantor” puts ownership of their property into a trust and names someone to be responsible or a “Trustee” of the Trust. When the grantor passes away, the Trustee is responsible for the handling and sale of the property. There are many different types of trusts and many ways for the property to go into a trust. Selling a house that is in a trust can be tricky but not as bad as it may appear. The property must be sold by the Trustee and once the property is sold the Trustee will transfer the title to sell and then it can be transferred over to the new owner.
JTWROS (Joint Ownership with Right of Survivorship)
With JTWROS a property doesn’t necessarily go for sale when the property owner passes away. Oftentimes, a married couple have equal shares of ownership of the property and in those cases, if one of them passes away, the surviving owner will immediately inherit full ownership of the property. The survivor is able to do whatever they would like with the property. An important note is that any Trusts or WIlls must now be updated to reflect the ownership change.
Estates
With Estates, many people can share ownership of a property. If one of the owners passes away, their part of the estate is controlled by their Will. This can cause problems if the beneficiaries of the property are work partners or friends. In this example, there is an enormous amount of legal red tape which can cause a property to sit vacant for months or even years.
There can be many challenges in dealing with an inherited property. If you have inherited a house and would like to consider selling it, please call us at 520-200-3334 or click on the green button below and give us your contact information. We’ll reach out to you and provide you with a no-obligation cash offer.
|