Mom's Probate-Question about her house

[hink2121]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Iowa

My mom died almost 5 months age. She had a couple of annuities and 3 CD's at the bank. These have already been split up with my sister and I. Was told they did not need to go to probate. What does have to go to probate is her house. My sister wants to buy it so were were told it needed to get a market value. Those figures are now in.

My sister and I both agree that she should buy my half out. We are being told that it would help probate along if indeed the house would be sold. Now does it matter what my sister and I come up with to sell the house? We have a figure in mind but I want my sister to pay me in 2 yearly installments.

Let's say the market value is $100,000 and my half would be $50,000. We both agree that she could give me $25,000 this year and $25,000 the next year but in the meantime the house would be sold to her. Can this be done in order to get out of probate? Thank You.

 

[anteater]

We are being told that it would help probate along if indeed the house would be sold.

Being told by whom?

Can this be done in order to get out of probate?

It isn't clear what you mean by "get out of."

In plain language, the purpose of probate is to establish that someone (the estate's personal representative) receives legal authority to deal with the liabilities and assets of the probate estate. "Probate" does not really care what arrangements are made by the rightful beneficiaries of the assets.

Iowa has an affidavit process for very small estates. But, since real estate is involved here, that does not apply. Iowa also has a simplified probate administration process for probate estates valued at less than $100,000.

 

[nextwife]

Does mom's estate owe money to creditors?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Iowa

My mom died almost 5 months age. She had a couple of annuities and 3 CD's at the bank. These have already been split up with my sister and I. Was told they did not need to go to probate. What does have to go to probate is her house. My sister wants to buy it so were were told it needed to get a market value. Those figures are now in.

My sister and I both agree that she should buy my half out. We are being told that it would help probate along if indeed the house would be sold. Now does it matter what my sister and I come up with to sell the house? We have a figure in mind but I want my sister to pay me in 2 yearly installments.

Let's say the market value is $100,000 and my half would be $50,000. We both agree that she could give me $25,000 this year and $25,000 the next year but in the meantime the house would be sold to her. Can this be done in order to get out of probate? Thank You.

Your sister would really need to get a mortgage to pay you off in full to really make it work.

 

[Zigner]

Your sister would really need to get a mortgage to pay you off in full to really make it work.

In a round-about way, that's what the OP is talking about. The sister will owe $25,000 to the OP. That's a mortgage (if set up properly.)

 

[hink2121]

Mom was debt free. My sister has enough in checking & savings account to write me a check for the $25,000. Was told the shortest time period to be done with probate is 4 months. Lawyer informed me that he has her final tax return finished. Just need to get her house situation taken care of. Hope this information helps.

 

[anteater]

Mom was debt free. My sister has enough in checking & savings account to write me a check for the $25,000. Was told the shortest time period to be done with probate is 4 months. Lawyer informed me that he has her final tax return finished. Just need to get her house situation taken care of. Hope this information helps.

Has any probate action been undertaken?

And you are using the passive voice again - "Was told..." Who? The lawyer that you mention?

It is just very difficult to determine what your question actually is? Are you asking if you can avoid probate?

The answer has to be "No." Somebody must have the legal authority to transfer the property from your Mother's ownership to ownership by the rightful beneficiaries. The somebody gets that authority from appointment by the probate court.

 

[hink2121]

No not trying to avoid probate. I was just wondering if the house could be transferred to my sister and whatever agreement my sister and I agree on would be our business. With her CD's and annuity's that money bypassed probate. We simply went to mom's bank and they cut us a check for equal parts on the CD's total amounts. Same with her annuities. Both my sister and I got 50% of the value of the annuities. Also her lawyer found that she had some stocks that we never knew she had.

 

[curb1]

Open probate and one of you will get the authority to make the sale of the house. Then it will be a done deal. Keep it simple.

 

[anteater]

If there are no creditors and you and sister are the only heirs/beneficiaries, there should be no problem with any arrangements to which the two of you agree.

 

[hink2121]

Many thanks for the info. Will be seeing the lawyer Thursday and will now know the direction were going to take. I was very surprised that he found some stocks that mom had. It was less than $15,000 in value but lesson learned is for me to make all that information available for my kids.

 

[hink2121]

Still a little confused about probate. Talked to mom's lawyer and she said it takes 4 months for probate at the minimum. Like I said in the earlier post her CD's and annuities did not go to probate. My sister and I got checks for our half of the CD's and annuities. What i'm still confused about is her car and her house. Was told there needs to be a value that is put on the house and car. Something about an invetory list that must be completed.

At this point do we have to sell the house and car? We would like for the house to be put in my sisters and I names to show we both own the house and car. Can this be done to close the probate process,pay the lawyer for her work,and be done with mom's estate so we can do what we want to do with the house and car?

My sister would like to buy the house but it's something that she's not certain she want's to do right away. In the meantime my son is living in the house and for right now he would like to rent the house from my sister and I. Sorry for the added questions but I would just like someone else's input on this. I learn much from doing it this way. Thank You for your time and I do appreciate your input.

 

[anteater]

One of the purposes of probate is to give the deceased's creditors an opportunity to make a claim against the estate for any legitimate debts. State probate statutes generally establish a deadline for creditors to make a claim. I have not looked to see what that is in Iowa, but I assume that it is 4 months since the attorney mentions that time frame.

Now, you may think absolutely that there are no debts to be paid, but you can never be certain. That is why it is important for the the probate estate's personal representative to publish the proper notifications that probate has been opened and to wait until the expiration of the deadline for creditors to file any claims before transferring any assets to heirs/beneficiaries.

Was told there needs to be a value that is put on the house and car. Something about an inventory list that must be completed.

Yes. Part of the probate process is to submit an inventory of the deceased's assets. (If I remember correctly, in Iowa, the inventory is supposed to include all assets - whether they are probate assets or not, probably because Iowa still has it own estate/inheritance tax.)

At this point do we have to sell the house and car?

No, there is no reason that the house and car have to be sold. Particularly, if there are no debts that have to be paid.

If the attorney is not explaining the probate process clearly, you may want to consider consulting/retaining a different attorney.

 

[hink2121]

Thanks anteater. The lawyer did tell me that all notifications have been put out and the 4 months are up March 24th. Inventory has been taken care of. Final tax return also. I'm glad we don't have to worry about selling the house or car. Again,Thanks.

 

[hink2121]

One more question about mom' probate. Everything is done,car sold,annuities,CD's taken care of. Only thing left is her house. My sister and I have agreed not to have a time limit to sell the house. It needs much more work to be put on the market as of now. We don't want to be rushed to sell it now. Talked to the lawyer today and said it's very critical what price we end up getting for the house.

Said it has to do with capitol gains that we might owe taxes on. This is where i'm confused. I'm thinking this is fine but what if my sister and I can work out a price and we both decide to buy it? Is there any law against this? I figure we should be able to do anything we want with the house and right now we don't want to sell it but do whatever it takes to satisfy the courts when it comes to probate. I figure if my sister and I want to buy it and let it sit empty then that's our choice.

The value of the house for the county that it's located in was done by a realtor and it came to $87,000. The house is located just a few miles from the next county where everyone works and the houses in mom's small town belong in that market. We have had 2 realtors from the larger market give us a price and they said they would start out at $130,000-$135,000. But for right now we simply don't want to sell the house. Need your advice on what we should do. Thanks!