The power of attorney is one of the most important estate planning documents you can have. It allows you to appoint someone to act for you as your agent if you become incapacitated. Without such a document, your loved ones won’t be able to make decisions for you or manage your finances. They’ll have to ask a court to appoint a guardian or conservator – an expensive and time-consuming process that could result in someone making
A home is usually the most expensive purchase people ever make. And as we’ve all learned recently, mortgage loans can be complex and a poorly chosen mortgage can cause many problems down the road. And yet, Americans spend very little time researching a mortgage. The average homebuyer spends only five hours choosing a home loan and gets only three quotes, according to a recent online survey of nearly 3,000 purchasers by Zillow.com. More than 30% of
People who use oxygen for medical reasons often smoke as well. (Frequently, smoking is the reason they have respiratory problems that require oxygen.) The problem is that smoking and oxygen are a dangerous combination. Oxygen accelerates fires and can turn a cigarette ember into a serious flame. Even after the oxygen is turned off, gas that has accumulated in a room or on a person’s clothing and hair can trigger a conflagration. For this reason, many
Mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration help many people to buy a home who couldn’t do so otherwise. That’s because lenders are often willing to loan to people with less of a down payment because the loan is insured by a federal agency. However, the FHA has just made it more difficult to obtain an insured condo loan. Generally, the FHA can insure a loan only if the condo project has been approved by the
A recent case from Maryland’s highest court shows that even people who deal with real estate simply as investors can be held liable for lead paint problems. The case involved a Maryland company that bought tax liens. The company’s business model was to buy liens, foreclose on delinquent properties, then sell them “as is” at a profit. The company was organized as a limited liability company, or LLC. In one case, the LLC foreclosed on a
New rules issued by Fannie Mae are making it harder for people to get mortgages for condominium units, particularly when the condo is new construction or a new condo conversion. The rules are designed to reduce the risk of foreclosures. However, they come at a bad time, because the real estate market is slow and many people have already been having more trouble getting mortgage loans. Fannie Mae can’t tell lenders what to do, but Fannie
A Florida couple created a trust to benefit their grandchildren. The trust stated that it was to benefit only grandchildren who were related by blood. One of the couple’s sons got divorced in 1971. A girl, Catherine, had been born during the marriage. The son acknowledged the girl as his child and paid child support for her. In 1999, however, when Catherine was 32 years old, a DNA test proved that she wasn’t really the son’s
When two or more people own real estate, the relationship between the owners is known as a “tenancy.” There are a number of different kinds of tenancy. Understanding the differences is important, because different kinds of tenancy can mean different rules for whether an interest in the property can be inherited outside of probate and whether creditors can claim the property. Tenancy comes in three main forms: tenancy in common, joint tenancy, and tenancy by the
Not only are people living longer these days, but there’s a growing trend of widows and widowers remarrying in their 60s, 70s and 80s. A remarriage late in life can bring happiness, but it can also create complexities for estate planning. For most elderly people who remarry, the chief issue is that they want to look out for their adult children and make sure those children have an inheritance. Lack of estate planning can result in
The federal estate tax expired at the end of 2009, and believe it or not, the lack of an estate tax is creating a serious problem for many people who have not revised their wills in a while. The federal estate tax applied in 2009 to estates of more than $3.5 million. It is slated to come back in 2011, and apply to estates of more than $1 million. Most people expected that Congress would “fix”
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