Posts by Rick
Missouri Real Estate Titles – Adding a Family Member’s Name
George called my office this afternoon. His sister, Billie had been appointed as the Personal Representative of his mother’s estate a week ago. According to him Mom had a “simple will” leaving everything to her three children equally. He found out by word of mouth that Mom had “put Betty’s name on the title” (Betty…
Read MoreAnother Missouri Beneficiary Deed Failure
We’ve written and posted several times about the inherent dangers in relying on Beneficiary Deeds (also known as “Transfer on Death Deeds”) to transfer title in Missouri. Beneficiary Deeds, in the proper circumstances, present a very inexpensive and efficient method of transferring real estate upon death. The problem is the relative ease and low cost…
Read MoreMissouri Living Trusts and Life Insurance Beneficiaries
A major part of establishing a Trust Based Estate Plan is the “funding” of the Trust. Oversimplified, this involves the re-titling of assets such as bank accounts, real estate and brokerage accounts. It also involves dealing with Life Insurance Beneficiaries. While every situation is different, we often recommend naming the Trust as the beneficiary. Why?…
Read MoreFunding your Missouri Living Trust
Creating a Revocable, or Living Trust in Missouri is basically a two step process. The first, and most easily understandable, is creating the Trust document itself. This is done after discussing all options and carefully putting together the instrument, and then signing it. A second step that is nearly as important is the “funding” of…
Read MoreMissouri Beneficiary Deeds – What Happens with the Owner Dies?
We have written blogged several times about Missouri Beneficiary Deeds — the good, the bad, and the ugly. We ran into a new situation recently. A divorced dad died a few months ago and left his house to 19 year old Molly, his only child, through a beneficiary deed. We offered to help her with “getting organized” but she thought…
Read MorePreventing Fighting over the Funeral in Missouri
A sad situation presented itself a few weeks ago. A funeral director was demanding that all the children of a recently deceased client consent to a cremation. One of the children was out of the country permanently, and could not be reached. Fortunately I was able to convince the lawyer for the funeral home that…
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