Author: Benjamin Boyhan
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Judgment Liens and Homestead Property
Judgment liens can negatively affect your ability to refinance or sell your home, even if your home has homestead protection. If you refinance or enter a contract to sell your property and a judgment lien is discovered, the process to clear the lien may delay or prevent the closing. There are four options to clear…
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Three Strategies to Avoid Probate for your Florida Real Estate
Probate is the legal court-supervised process that recognizes a deceased individual’s will, if any, and appoints a personal representative to administer the estate. The probate court ensures that a deceased individual’s assets are properly distributed to heirs of the deceased by the terms of the deceased’s will or intestate laws. The reasons to avoid probate…
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What is the difference between a Quitclaim Deed and a Warranty Deed?
A quitclaim deed and a warranty deed perform the same essential function, they transfer title from one party to another. However, there are fundamental differences between the two deeds. In a warranty deed, the grantor (the party transferring the property) provides guarantees and warranties to the grantee (the person receiving the property) that the grantor…
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What is a special warranty deed?
A special warranty deed is a type of deed that transfers ownership of real estate where the grantor guarantees that the grantor is the lawful owner, can sell/transfer the property, and there are no title defects during the grantor’s ownership. A special warranty deed would not cover any issues that existed before the grantor acquired…
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Fake sellers in real estate closings
A client of mine owned a rental property in Florida while he lived outside the U.S. He had a property manager handle everything related to the property. Unbeknownst to him, his property manager was approached by a fraudster who was impersonating him. The fraudster created an email address very similar to my client’s email address…
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How do you change your Florida revocable living trust?
To change your revocable living trust, first review the trust to see if there is a provision in the trust that pertains to amending/modifying the trust. If there is such a provision, then follow the steps outlined in the trust. If there are no instructions in the trust pertaining to amending the trust, then Florida…
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How do you revoke a Florida living revocable trust?
A revocable living trust is a trust where the settlor (the creator of the trust) has control over the assets in the trust during the settlor’s life. The trust is considered revocable because the trust can be changed or revoked at any time by the Settlor during the Settlor’s life. Florida law does not provide…
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Can a Florida irrevocable trust be amended?
Unlike a revocable trust, in Florida, an irrevocable trust cannot be amended by the settlor (the creator) of the trust. Irrevocable trusts tend to be difficult to amend. They can only be amended in limited ways, such as the following:
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Who should be the trustee of your living revocable trust?
Setting up a revocable living trust will require you to name a trustee. The trustee can be the creator of the trust (aka the settlor, trustor, or grantor) or the settlor can name someone else trustee. A beneficiary of the trust can be the trustee of the trust – this is very common with family…
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How do you transfer Florida real estate to your revocable living trust?
A revocable living trust is a trust where the settlor has control over the assets in the trust during the settlor’s life. Once the settlor passes away, the trust becomes irrevocable and assets in the trust pass to the settlor’s beneficiaries named in the trust without the need for probate. The trust can be changed…