estate planning Archives -

February 15, 2025February 9, 2025

Key Real Estate Steps After Creating a Living Trust

More and more people are creating living trusts – an estate planning strategy to ensure your assets, including your home, are protected and transferred smoothly to beneficiaries. However, once you’ve placed your home into a trust, there are crucial real estate-related steps you must take to ensure everything is legally sound.

Here are some key actions to take after transferring your home into a living trust:

Update Your Home Insurance Policy
Your homeowner’s insurance policy needs to reflect the fact that your home is now owned by your trust. Contact your insurance provider to inform them of the change and update the policyholder’s name to include the trust. You may need to provide them with a copy of your trust document and the new deed. Ensuring your trust is properly listed can help prevent coverage issues in the event of a claim.
Adjust Your Homestead Exemption
Many states offer a homestead exemption that provides property tax relief but transferring your home to a trust can sometimes affect your eligibility. Check with your local tax assessor’s office to confirm whether your exemption remains intact and if any paperwork is required to maintain your benefits. Some states, like here in Georgia, may require you to reapply for the exemption under the trust’s name.
Notify Your Mortgage Lender (If Applicable)
If you have a mortgage on your home, your lender may have specific requirements regarding transferring the property into a trust. While federal law (the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act) generally allows you to transfer your primary residence into a revocable living trust without triggering a due-on-sale clause, it’s still a good idea to notify your lender and confirm their policies.
Update Your Property Title and Deed
Transferring your home into a trust involves executing a new deed that reflects the trust as the property owner. If you haven’t already done this during the trust setup process, consult a real estate attorney or title company to ensure the deed is properly recorded with the county.
Review Your Title Insurance Policy
Just like with your homeowner’s insurance, your title insurance policy should be updated to reflect the ownership change. Contact your title insurance company to verify that the policy still provides coverage after the transfer and make any necessary adjustments.
Ensure Utilities and Property Tax Bills Are Addressed Correctly
After transferring ownership to the trust, review your property tax bills, utility accounts, and other home-related services to confirm they reflect the correct owner name (your trust). While these bills can still be paid from your personal account, ensuring accurate records can prevent administrative issues down the road.
Communicate With Beneficiaries
Your trust should outline who will inherit your home, but it’s also wise to communicate your plans with your beneficiaries. Letting them know about the trust and how the property transfer process will work can help avoid confusion and conflicts later.
Regularly Review and Update Your Trust
Life circumstances change, and so do real estate laws. Periodically review your living trust to ensure it still aligns with your wishes and legal requirements. If you buy a new home or move to a different state, consult an estate planning attorney to determine if you need to make adjustments.

Setting up a living trust for your home is a great way to simplify the inheritance process and protect your real estate assets. It’s essential to follow through with these post-trust setup steps to maintain legal clarity and financial benefits. Consult your estate planning attorney if you have questions about your living trust.

September 23, 2023July 19, 2023

Lessons learned from estate planning failures.

Working with Atlanta-area seniors and their families, it’s one of the most common discussions I have. Even if you feel you don’t have a large estate, planning for what will happen in the coming years is essential.

It may not be the most fun you’ll have, but estate planning can save your family members years of trouble and heartache. A recent Kiplinger article cites example after example of entertainers who died with their estate wishes unknown, undocumented, or unclear. The list includes Prince, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Ric Ocasek — all who left unclear estate plans that resulted in months or years of legal work to settle. Perhaps worst of all is the fact that their true wishes may have been delayed or not come to fruition at all.

The article suggests we all learn from their mistakes and take action today to give you peace of mind and make things easier for your heirs. It outlines some suggestions to prevent estate issues for your own family which includes:

Prepare for death
Be clear about who should benefit
Charity before death pays benefits
Update your estate & complete your will
Get help picking trustees
Know how divorce affects your estate
Protect your legacy
Consider selling property while alive
Name your beneficiaries.

If you’re looking for resources or have estate planning questions, especially regarding property and real estate, we’re here to help. Contact Atlanta Seniors Real Estate today.

February 27, 2023February 19, 2023

8 Common Estate Plan Mistakes

You have taken the time to make an estate plan but often they are fraught with issues that can cause problems for your loved ones down the road if you are incapacitated or pass away. AARP is out with a list of 8 common estate planning mistakes below — important points to check against the estate plan you do have.

If you don’t have a plan, this is the time to make one. And if you do have a plan, it’s suggested that you continue to update it as things change in your life.

Here are AARPs 8 common estate planning mistakes.

Is it complete? Has it been executed or updated?
Do you completely understand your plan? Will it be used as intended?
If there are investments you plan to leave to someone, ensure you own them.
Ensure your plan complies with current laws.
Are you beneficiary designations consistent in all documents?
Will gifts you leave to loved ones cause issues?
Understand tax consequences of your estate plan.
Make sure your loved ones are informed about your plans.
AARP suggests a digital accounts access guide.

>>Click here to read more about each of the 8 mistakes and more tips from AARP about your estate planning.

October 6, 2022September 17, 2022

4 Assets Your Kids May Not Want to Inherit

Leaving assets to your children has long been considered a thoughtful gift but it can become a burden for recipients. AARP recently published an informative article that may have you rethinking your estate plans especially when it comes to the four assets they highlight.

(From AARP) Leaving your children an inheritance is a blessing, but it can also be a curse, particularly if the items you’re handing down require work, time, money or space. Consider complicated assets like an antique car or a digital wallet full of cryptocurrency. Sure, your kids will appreciate these assets, but if the possession you’re giving away is too complicated to comprehend or hard to value, it could cause stress.

“When it’s an asset people don’t understand, it’s very difficult,” says Jean-Luc Bourdon, founder and wealth adviser at Lucent Wealth Planning. He once had a client who inherited a unique car but didn’t know what to sell it for or whom to trust. Instead of unlocking the value, she held on to the vehicle.

Even IRAs and 401(k)s can be problematic, since they aren’t easy to transfer to the next generation or your children hold on to them for sentimental value. The same goes for expensive furniture, ceramics and collectibles that take up space or are hard to get rid of.

“The most common assets [kids don’t want] have some type of obligation attached to them to maintain value,” says Joseph McNair, a certified financial planner at WA Asset Management. “The closer to cash the assets are, the less cumbersome they are.”

>>Read the full article here.