Who owns your house?

[Loving Life]

Home in the US is in my name, the international homes are in a Personal Corp.

 

[jIMOh]

For people which keep their names on the property, is that because it is how you financed (and paid off the house), or because you considered a trust of some sort then decided to NOT change the title of ownership?

 

[Jack_Pine]

We have everything that can be in our living trust.

It only cost a few hundred bucks to create and was painless. Only two visits to lawyer and one for signings.

I can add amendments at will (so to speak)

 

[Gatordoc50]

The title has DH and I as joint owners with right of survivor. No mortgage, no liens.

If our assets are not large, is there a reason to title it otherwise? We do have wills leaving all assets to our 2 adult sons.

You can google probate in your own state and find the best ways to avoid it.

 

[Gatordoc50]

JTWROS here.

 

[ohyes]

Exactly, almost verbatim, what my brother (private practice attorney back then, now a district judge) always told me when I would freak out about needing a will. He handled lots of wills and divorces, etc. so I kinda trusted him, yet always wondered....

I am thinking that probate often gets an undeserved bad reputation. It is simply the legal procedure to assure that creditors and taxes (if any) are paid and the remaining assets distributed in according to a will if there is one, and the state laws if there isn't.

For most people with relatively simple wills and estates it isn't that complicated. It just seems that way because it is something we don't deal with often.

Now, if there are unresolved lawsuits pending, and the decedent owned multiple companies/corporations, owned property in foreign countries and similar complicated stuff, then hire a lawyer and hide.

 

[Sue J]

In my state of Ohio you can add an affidavit for Transfer On Death. After one of us dies, the survivor could add the TOD to our sons.

After Mom died we had a quick and inexpensive chat with a lawyer who basically told us that for Dad a TOD on the property, a POD on bank accounts and a change of beneficiary on his IRA took care of just about all of his assets. The rest is personal stuff like clothing, furniture, etc.

You can google probate in your own state and find the best ways to avoid it.

Thank you.

From https://www.ohiobar.org/ForPublic/Resources/LawFactsPamphlets/Pages/LawFactsPamphlet-17.aspx

What property is not included in probate?
Property that is not probate property (called nonprobate property), and therefore is notpart of the probate proceeding, includes: property held by the decedent and another as joint tenants with right of survivorship; property held in a trust; accounts that are payable on death (POD) or will transfer on death (TOD)to a named beneficiary; and insurance or retirement benefits that are payable to a named beneficiary. Nonprobate property passes directly to a named beneficiary, survivor or successor in interest, independent of any probate proceeding.

Property that must be included in probate and property that is subject to estate taxes are two different matters. Both probate property and nonprobate property may be subject to federal or Ohio estate taxes.

 

[jIMOh]

BTW, I have my house in an LLC and get almost no junk mail (only get they type addresses to current resident). Because it shows up as a business in a residential neighborhood, guess the mailing list companies removed my name from their lists.

 

[Calico]

My house is in my name. I own 50% of it, and Wells Fargo still owns the other 50%.

 

[jime444]

though 90% if the house is ours, I've always considered it the property of the state. don't pay the property taxes here in WA and see how long you "own" it.

 

[padlin00]

I've wondered about this, the house is in my wife's and my name but I have to pay rent/taxes to the town each year, if I stop they take the house or some such. So do I really own the house?

 

[Gatordoc50]

I've wondered about this, the house is in my wife's and my name but I have to pay rent/taxes to the town each year, if I stop they take the house or some such. So do I really own the house?

The average property tax rate is about 1.3 %. Kind of like paying a financial advisor!

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I have my house in an LLC as protection from an ex wife, creditors and to help it pass to my kids without probate.

Ours is in name as in Florida your home is automatically protected from creditors and such.

 

[Badger]

Ours is in a revocable trust. It was paid off 10+ years ago.

Cheers!

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

I've wondered about this, the house is in my wife's and my name but I have to pay rent/taxes to the town each year, if I stop they take the house or some such. So do I really own the house?

So even if your house is paid off, the government can take it from you if you fail/forget to pay for the privilege of living there.

 

[pb4uski]

I've wondered about this, the house is in my wife's and my name but I have to pay rent/taxes to the town each year, if I stop they take the house or some such. So do I really own the house?

So even if your house is paid off, the government can take it from you if you fail/forget to pay for the privilege of living there.

Only sort of. If you just forget, then you can pay the tax and any late payment penalties, just like your mortgage or any other bill that you forget to pay.

If you fail to pay, then the town has a lien on the home and can force it to be sold to satisfy the lien (and any other liens) and then any remainder would be paid to you.

But you either knew or should have known all of this before you bought it so unless you were totally ignorant, why the consternation? It's not like the town putting homes into auction to satisfied unpaid property taxes is a deep, dark secret.

 

[gerntz]

I don't know where to mark the poll as my wife's Rev Trust owns the house I reside in.

 

[meierlde]

One of the issues is what kind of homestead protection the state you live in provides, if like Tx its the total value of the homestead, then best to have it in your and if married your spouses name. That way if you were to have to declare bankruptcy you could keep your home. One should check how trusts might be treated with respect to bankruptcy.

 

[Ted_Shepherd]

My revocable living trust is technically the owner of both of my houses. I am the sole owner of that trust, so I think of the houses as mine. Neither house has ever had a mortgage since I bought them. (Their total value is not a large part of my estate, say 12%, but they save me paying mortgage interest. In fact, I have no debt at all, paying off my charge cards in full each month. Of course, practically speaking, no house is ever debt free as long as property taxes come due every year.) My husband is the sole beneficiary of the trust.

 

[DrRoy]

Living trust, not necessarily a landtrust, but that's what I voted.

 

[Toocold]

Both main residence and a couple of rental property in DW and my name. We'll likely create a separate entity for the investment properties.

 

[atmsmshr]

Fifth 3rd Bank owns over Two 3rds of our home.

DW and I are mortgagees. We have no plan on paying off a 3.125% interest note (prior to tax deduction).

 

[MichaelB]

Y'all realize this is a 4 year old thread ..

 

[Dash man]

Our attorney just had us change all of our revocable trust assets back into joint with right of survivorship. When the first of us goes everything will be moved into a marital trust for division to our beneficiaries upon the death of the second of us. A pour over will moves things to the trust if we go at the same time and things are not yet in the trust. This set up gives us more asset protection under current law than having everything in the trust. My mind was spinning as she explained all this, but it sounded logical as she explained and we trust her. Not something I often say about attorneys.

 

[jonat]

Currently in DW's and my name, but we are putting it into a revocable trust.