Written by Chesley Payne
Real estate seems to be the legal issue that people encounter most often.
Either you or someone you know owns real estate in one form or another.
Whether it is their personal residence, their business property, a rental property, or a second home, most people will deal with a real estate issue sometime in their life
. Whenever you deal with a real estate issue, the most important tip I have shared is to consult with an attorney.
A common real estate issue concerns transferring property to a son or daughter to avoid the cost of opening a probate estate after death. However, this seemingly simple transaction concerns a variety of issues related to many different fields. Tax, probate, long-term disability care and even the possession of your own property are issues the transfer of a residence can involve.
From a tax standpoint, transferring a property through probate can be much more beneficial to your heirs. Also, as anyone with an elderly mother and/or father in nursing home care knows, Medicaid can come calling for years after a transfer from the parent to claim its share of the equity in the home.
The critical issue with such transactions (where someone takes these matters into their own hands) is that any mistakes made will probably not be realized for years. Title issues concerning real property are usually only discovered upon the owner’s death or when the property is sold after many years. At this point, the costs of resolving any issues from the initial mistakes can be far more than the costs the person would have incurred by contacting an attorney to handle the original transaction.
The next time the “family attorney” claims to be able to save you the legal fees involved in a “simple transaction,” make sure you count the hidden costs you may face in fixing those mistakes later.