Estate Planning USA.com

My mother was killed in a car accident 3 years ago. She was divorced from my stepfather, but they still owned a house and land together. Now that my mother is dead and her estate case has been closed, it recently surfaced that this house with both of their names on it was still in existance. Now that my mother is dead the house defaulted to my sister and I owning her half and my white trash drunk stepfather owning the other half. He is trying to force us to sign over our portion of the house so that he can sale it and pocket all of the profits, but my sister and I are planning on fighting him for whats ours. Our mother hated him and would want it that way. So we are in the process of finding an attorney but not sure what kind of attorney we need. Do we need an estate attorney even though her estate case has been closed? Or do we need a different type of attorney??? Any suggestions?

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Foreclosure Filings Hit Record High
By Kenneth Musante,
CNNMoney
Posted: 2008-05-14 13:00:31

NEW YORK (May 14) — US foreclosure filings reached a record high in April rising almost 65% over the previous year and putting municipalities at risk by cutting into the value of taxed property according to a study released Wednesday.

Some 243,353 households nearly one in 519 received a foreclosure filing during April according to the US Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac an online marketplace that tracks foreclosed properties That was up 4% from March, and surpassed the record of 239,851 set in August 2007.

It’s "the highest monthly total we’ve seen since we began issuing the report in January 2005 said chief executive James J. Saccacio in a statement.

RealtyTracs measure of foreclosure filings includes notices of default auction sales and bank repossessions According to the report, 54,574 were fully repossessed by banks in April.

Property tax plunge: The record number of foreclosures added their weight to an already saturated real estate market pulling down home prices Plunging home values reduce the money that cities villages and towns collect in property taxes.
In particular jeopardy are parts of Nevada California Arizona and Florida whose states maintained the highest foreclosure rates, according to RealtyTrac.

"For example the city council in Vallejo Calif. - part of a metropolitan area with a foreclosure rate that ranked sixth highest in the nation in April - last week voted to have the city file for bankruptcy said Saccacio.

The state of California had the second-highest foreclosure rate in the nation up 112% over the previous year and affecting about one in 204 households The top spot among states was held by Nevada which maintained a foreclosure rate 3.6 times the national average affecting about one in 146 homes.
Nationwide single-family home prices have fallen 7.7% since the beginning of the year to the lowest level since at least 1982 according to the National Association of Realtors and data from real-estate broker Zip Realty showed that the number of houses on the market grew by 3.5% in April.

With more homes being seized by banks, local governments also lose out on tax revenue from sale transactions. "It’s really hitting the municipalities from multiple fronts said RealtyTrac marketing vice president Rick Sharga in an interview.

Ten hardest hit metro areas: Cities in California and Florida have been particularly hard-hit. Areas in those states accounted for 9 of the top 10 metropolitan foreclosure rates.

The California metro areas of Merced Stockton Modesto and Riverside-San Bernardino took the top four spots. In Merced one out of 66 households was hit by foreclosure in April.

In Florida Cape Coral-Fort Myers came in at number 5 Port St. Lucie-Fort Pierce and Fort Lauderdale came in at numbers 9 and 10.

Also making an appearance was Las Vegas a city that had seen heavy real estate speculation at number 7 with one in 116 households receiving foreclosure notices.

As Congress debates plans to prop up troubled homeowners the foreclosure rate shows little signs of slowing. Delinquent mortgage payments which lead to foreclosure will likely rise over the next six to 12 months according to a key mortgage trend statistic from First American CoreLogic.

Copyright 2008 CNNMoney
2008-05-14 06:06:18

A place for people to die quickly, painlessly, softly and quietly.
Then allow the private sector to get in on it.
- Legal help with Wills and Estates.
- Funeral Planning.
- End of Life Counseling.
- Pastoral care.

This isn’t just for the terminally ill, this would be open to all whom wish to Coup D’ Grace.

Inspired by this classic scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbJTBBoDFH0

Liberals remember "My Body, My choice" if someone want to do it, why would you stop them?

Nancy intends to sell her home. A few of her neighbors have mentioned that they know some folks who would love to buy the house. Nancy is interested in the idea of selling her house herself, but she is also concerned about her ability to effectively market the property if that does not work out .

1. What type of listing agreement, if any, should Nancy consider entering into with Ron, her broker of choice? Why?

2. Presume that Ron and Nancy enter into an open listing, Ron finds a buyer willing to buy on the precise terms of the listing agreement, yet Nancy refuses to sell. Could Nancy owe Ron any money? Why or why not?

3. Assuming Nancy doesn’t need marketing assistance, what other benefits would she receive from entering into a listing with Ron?

4. Ron’s brokerage firm only represents sellers. What is this arrangement called? Why would a brokerage firm create such a policy?

Chris is selling his home and plans to list it with his friend, Ryan, a licensed broker. Chris would also like Ryan to permit his friend Lissa to help with marketing the property.

5. If Chris enters into a listing agreement with Ryan that permits Lissa to market the property, what type of relationship is created between Lissa and Ryan? Why?

6. Assuming that Ryan belongs to an Board of Realtors MLS, does his posting the listing on the MLS service create a blanket offer of subagency to the other MLS members? Why or why not?

I have many ideals, and plans of action to move foward on some realestate deals. Residential and commercial, im looking for a mentor that dosen’t mind helping a very motivated person execute my deals from start to finish, and upon closing these deals spliting the profits!! Im a very fast learner i live in Ohio and ready to start immediately.

I am going to buy the home of my deceased grandmother that is currently owned by her estate. I am not a beneficiary of the estate, but the executors are my mother and aunt. I have read that you are not eligible for the $8000 tax credit if you buy a home from a close relative, but don’t know if my situation qualifies. Have any of you tax/real estate gurus out there come across this situation? I do plan on contacting the IRS to get their opinion beforehand but wanted to see if anyone had any real life experience with this. Thanks.

My wife and I are green card holders and plan to be US citizens in 2012. My son was born in Canada and lives here in the US. My friend wants to create a trust fund for him of $500,000. My friends wants to know if its best to create a Trust fund or bequeath from the estate.

I do not plan on selling it. Should I or am I required to have it appraised?
My Mother passed in 2005 and the property was only recently signed over.

Make a list of five short-term goals, five intermediate goals, and five long-term goals. Before you list the goals, think seriously about your current situation. What kind of a financial future do you envision for yourself? What steps will you need to take to reach that future? Consider your present situation, and think of ways in which you can establish financial security.
Once you have completed your lists of goals, think of ways to achieve each of them. It is likely that investing will help you achieve some of your goals, but not all of them. Investments include money market securities, CDs, stocks, bonds, IRAs, mutual funds, and real estate. When you are considering investment options, refer to your course materials. Make sure you understand the risks of each kind of investment. Once you understand each type of investment, think about the timeframe of each one of your goals. Is investment an appropriate way to meet the goal?
Compile your goals and strategies into an outline. Divide your outline with three main headings—short-term goals, intermediate goals, and long-term goals. List each goal under the appropriate heading. After each goal, include a paragraph explaining how you are going to meet the goal. The paragraph should be written in complete sentences. It should include:
•A strategy for meeting the goal.
•An explanation of how you plan to use this strategy.
•Analysis of whether investment is appropriate for meeting the goal.
•An explanation of the type of investment used (if investment is appropriate).

i need help understanding this and what could be examples.!
i will vote best answer (:

We recently purchased a new home to use as a renter. Our real estate agent told us to purchase and insurance policy from Old Republic to cover anything that could be wrong with the house since it was built in the 80’s. An inspector looked at the house prior to our purchase and didn’t notice anything with the property. Once the house was occupied by our renter, he noticed that the lights would shut off and stay off for a few hours. Old republic sent an electrician over and he told us that the prior owner had replaced a new breaker on top of a broken buster. He reported back to old republic and they stated that the insurance didn’t cover anything that was not installed correctly. We were precise to inform our agent of the policy we needed for the house. We were not sure what work the house had done prior to our purchase so that is why we purchased the insurance. The policy we had was Old Republic Home Warranty Plan. That is what our agent advised us to get. Now, what can we legally do to help cover our out of the pocket expense of over a grand. Is there a policy that anyone would recommend for a rental house. Let me add that we do have home owners insurance but it only covers fires, floods, etc. (Please no unnecessary comments, this is an important question and need real honest advise.) Thank you in advance to all who respond and hopefully this could help others who read it as well.