Property Manager · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2019 · 580 posts · 351 votes
I'm planning to meet with a potential seller who's father passed away recently. I see the home is in the father's name - not a trust - so I'm assuming probabe might be needed to transfer title. Would you try and get a contract on the home knowing it will take awhile to transfer title? Or counsel the seller to start probate proceedings and stay in contract? Just curious when most wholesalers address the probate question.
Most likely you need to involve a lawyer, there also could be a will or trust in place even though the house might not be under a trust. Someone might be titled to the house in a will. Best bet is to touch base with a decision maker and ask a few more questions.
How do you know its not in a Trust? The "beauty" of Trusts is usually they aren't recorded.
What is the deal for this property? If its a "good" deal, I'd get it under contract. But, how are you intending to make money on it? If you can wait, wait.. but wait with it under contract for you. Don't let somebody take it from you.
Also, what State is it? What sort of property laws are there? Isn't is communitiy property laws say it goes to the spouse anyway? Is there a spouse living with the decendent?
There is a bunch of little details to this. Good luck.
How do you know its not in a Trust? The "beauty" of Trusts is usually they aren't recorded.
What is the deal for this property? If its a "good" deal, I'd get it under contract. But, how are you intending to make money on it? If you can wait, wait.. but wait with it under contract for you. Don't let somebody take it from you.
Also, what State is it? What sort of property laws are there? Isn't is communitiy property laws say it goes to the spouse anyway? Is there a spouse living with the decendent?
There is a bunch of little details to this. Good luck.
You can tell it is not in the Trust by the way the deed is titled. It can, depending on the state, be titled as the XXX Trust dated ZZZ, or alternatively as John Doe, Trustor/ee of the XX Trust dated YY.
If the property is titled as just John Doe, then it is NOT in the Trust, even if the Trust identifies it as an asset because the title was not changed.
Now, you'al know I am not an attorney, just an investor who uses Trusts and I was told this by an attorney many decades ago when working with my parent's trust. He was explaining the significance of the titling of the banking accounts and the property and how to not mingle trust and non-trust assets, how to know what is in and not in the trust.
Also, even with community property law, the property may not go totally to the spouse. There could be past divorce agreements, or the person who passed may will his half to someone(s) with his spouse getting the other half through community property. There could be life estates, reverse mortgages, Medicare recovery, lots of issues that title needs to explore.