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Who Can Prepare Estate Planning Documents? A reader in Arizona points out that paralegals can prepare trusts, wills, and other documents needed for a successful estate plan Q: As you are attorneys, you may not like to hear that in Arizona, paralegals can prepare estate planning documents. This includes trusts, wills, powers of attorney and all the other estate plan documents needed for the successful departure from this life. Trust Distribution Held Up Here’s how it worked for us.

Transferring House Title Into Daughter’s Name Q: My mother passed away in January of this year. She died without a will. My house sits on land that was my mothers and is supposed to be mine. I just have to pay the back taxes to have it transferred in my name. My sister gave me the tax bill which has my mother’s name on it but was sent in care of my sister. She says she doesn’t know why it came like that. She also told me I wouldn’t need her to transfer the home into my name. That doesn’t sound right.

Commercial Property Won’t Sell Q: I own a commercial property that I no longer want to own. The market value of this property is zero as there are many abandoned properties nearby. The real estate taxes are astronomically high for a property with zero market value. I was advised by my financial planner and CPA to stop paying the taxes and just abandon it.

Trusts Need Their Own Checking Accounts Q: I read your recent article about how to put a home with a mortgage into a trust. I agree with your advice, but as the daughter who had to deal with the sale of my mother’s home that was held in her trust, there is one further thing people should do. They also need a checking account titled in the same name as the trust that holds their home.

Emotional Support Animals, Landlords, and Tenants Q: My daughter lives in a large apartment building in a western suburb of Chicago. She is allowed to have her emotional support animal as long as she has documentation from her doctor. Now she is shopping around for a condominium. There is a unit that she really likes, however, the owner told her that no pets are allowed. We told her it is an emotional support animal. But she said the condo association will not allow it. Is that right?

Empty Trusts: Estate Planning Mistake #1 Q: I created a revocable trust so that my three kids won’t have to deal with probate when I die as I did with my parents’ home. How do I get my mortgaged home into the trust, or does it need to be? A: We think you’ve made a good decision, one that your kids will thank you for down the line. Revocable Trust: Get It Right the First Time The biggest mistake people make with trusts is they never do anything with them.

Revocable Trust: Get It Right the First Time Q: We had created a revocable trust to hold title to a family home back in 2007. The attorney that created the trust for us has since retired. We need to make some minute, simple changes to the trust. Our son has since married and has two young children and we’d like to make changes to the trust to cover the new additions to our family. How can I go about making this change? What will be the approximate cost?

Radon Test Before Listing Home For Sale Q: This isn’t a question, but a comment/suggestion. I read one of your columns on your website talking about taking care of the small stuff when it comes time to list your home for sale. You advise people to get a home inspection before they market their home. And, you suggested that they can make all the repairs to the home before they list it for sale. You also said that you can use the presale inspection as a marketing strategy.

Due-On-Sale Clauses Q: The Garn-St. Germain Act prohibits enforcement of a due-on-sale clause in a transfer where the spouse or children of the borrower become an owner of the property. Does the “transfer” mean inherit, or does it also include “sale” where the deceased and the spouse are tenants in common? A: Congress passed the Garn-St. Germain Act back in 1982.

Why You Buy Title Insurance Q: A previous owner owes taxes on the home we purchased. We are trying to refinance our home and we were told that there are taxes owing from 2002. We purchased the home in 2004. Are we responsible for paying these real estate taxes? A: It’s hard to believe that you owe a tax bill from 23 years ago. And, that this didn’t come up when you purchased the home 21 years ago. Still, stranger things have happened.