Anthony S. Park Anthony Park

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There is no legal time limit to transfer real estate after death. It could happen quickly, or it could take years. We’ve seen cases where the real estate doesn’t get transferred until generations later. A fast sale is ideal, because problems can emerge in the meantime. There is a lag between the date of death and when the executor gets legal authority to handle the property. So, even “fast” isn’t very fast.
How long does it take to get preliminary letters?
The executor does not have full authority over the estate until he gets letters testamentary (or letters of administration) from the court. Preliminary letters give the authority to collect and manage property of the estate. They will not grant authority to distribute property. Preliminary letters are handy for entering the real estate for repairs, etc.
Theoretically, the executor can get preliminary letters within a week. They can be issued same-day in emergency situations. Realistically, getting the letters is a slow process. We’ve had properties with leaks and rodents, and it still took us weeks to get preliminary letters. We called the court daily and filed papers often, and it didn’t move as fast as we needed it to move.
If you have an estate without emergencies, you probably won’t get preliminary letters. If the court takes weeks to respond to emergency petitions, they aren’t going to move any faster for “normal” estates.
How to prevent foreclosure on inherited property
Undoing a foreclosure proceeding has legal costs and other implications. No one wants to deal with that. To prevent foreclosure, first notify the lender. Even though the mortgage company can’t give you much information without court letters, you should still inform them that you are working on the estate. If the lender doesn’t hear from anyone, they will go right to their foreclosure counsel.
When folks hear the word “foreclosure,” they think of mortgages. Your homeowners’ association or co-op board can also take action, because they aren’t getting paid either. Again, they won’t have the legal authority to work with you. But you can let them know that you are getting preliminary letters.
You should also look up and notify any other potential lien holders. There could be a mechanic’s lien, or a family member with a non-bank mortgage on the property. You might be surprised what a simple letter can do. Let them know that you are working on the estate so that no one else starts a process that is costly to undo.
What to do when property owner dies There are certain things you can and can’t do without court letters.

First, you cannot forward the mail. The post office needs legal authority to do that.
You most likely cannot change the locks. Although, this is a gray area. If you are in a managed co-op or homeowners’ association, they will bar you from securing the property. You have a better chance of securing a property that is not managed. If you think it will be a contested probate, don’t change the locks. You can get in big trouble, especially in New York.
You may be able to winterize the property and secure it in other ways. Piled up mail and overgrown grass signal vacancy and can attract thieves or vandals. Even if you don’t have legal authority to clean up the newspapers, the court won’t give you a hard time deterring criminals.
Remember, the property manager may not even live in the same state. Make a relationship with the doorman or superintendent and notify them of the owner’s death. They can keep an eye on the property and let you know if something looks off. Without court letters, you won’t get access to the interior of the property. But, the doorman can let you know of a leak or pests or a problem that affects the nearby units.
Communicate with everyone until you get legal authority from the court to handle the property. Preliminary communication can stop a whole lot of problems from starting.
My book, “How Probate Works

We’ve talked before about not making a loved one your executor. I recently read an article titled, “2 Big Reasons Not to Make a Loved One the Executor of Your Estate.” Here, we’ll add our own perspective for why it’s not a great idea.
Being executor can be emotionally difficult
It is a duty that begins almost immediately after the death of your loved one. You are grieving the loss while facing a list of daunting tasks. Even normal probate is a lot of work and can be tough while grieving.
In a somewhat difficult probate, you navigate the decedent’s family and friend relationships. If you are also family and friends with these people, it can be awkward. They will continually ask you when they will receive their inheritance. Some will complain that they get less money than others. You may not get far into the probate process before this happens.
It goes without saying that a difficult and dramatic probate is even more burdensome and draining.
Being executor is long and time consuming
If you think probate lasts a few weeks or months, think again! Probate lasts many months and sometimes many years. Over the past few years, we’ve seen probate take longer than ever.
Many of the executor’s tasks must be done in person. This means walking into a bank and taking care of the assets face-to-face. It is very inconvenient, especially if the executor works and has a busy home life. The executor cannot delegate responsibilities by power of attorney. An attorney can help with many tasks, but not all.
Things an executor needs to know The executor should have an understanding of legal issues and risks of being executor! An executor is personally liable for mistakes they make during the probate process. This includes asset valuations, purchases, sales, tax complications, failure to pay debts, and more. The executor is liable out of their own pocket. Creditors can come after the executor’s bank and brokerage accounts and their home.

There are a lot of tax issues when administering an estate. The taxing authorities know that this is their last chance to wring every last cent out of that social security number. The IRS will go through the assets with a fine tooth comb. What if your executor doesn’t have the skills to manage assets? The executor should be able to manage real estate, financial assets, and unique assets such as small businesses, collectibles, and bitcoin. If your executor doesn’t have an existing skill set for managing assets, don’t count on them learning when you pass. It’s too much to ask someone to learn how to manage assets while they are mourning.
Many people think things will be fine as long as their executor hires the right people (lawyer, CPA, etc.). It is important to have a good team during probate, but it is not enough. Each of these professionals have their own incentives and opinions. And remember, none of them are personally liable. Just because you hire a lawyer to help with probate doesn’t mean you will get the best advice. Even if your CPA is great at doing your income tax returns doesn’t mean they know how to do tax returns for an estate. You need professionals who have a solid understanding of probate.
The article we reviewed also recommends working with experienced professionals. People are starting to hear more about professional executors. Whereas, even 5 years ago, it wasn’t quite as popular. If you want to learn more, check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor.” When people understand what professional executors do, they like the option. They are thrilled to have that burden lifted off of their loved ones.
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In this episode, we will talk about self-custodied bitcoiners (not those who have their coin on an exchange or with a third party). Some bitcoiners share their seed phrase with their spouse or adult children. Or perhaps they share their cloned wallet with those trusted individuals.

 

It’s temptingly easy, essentially frictionless to share your seed phrase. But, as we’ll discuss, it can be insecure for reasons you may not think of. Sharing your seed phrase can be dangerously inflexible and not future-proof.

Relationships change

One reason that this plan is not flexible is because relationships change. Married couples can become divorced or widowed. You may have a falling-out with a loved one. Your relationship with your child may be good now, but the relationship could become strained or even estranged. If this happens, you may not want them knowing your seed phrase. That’s like giving the keys to the kingdom to someone you don’t trust anymore.

They’ll won’t keep it secure
Say you give your seed phrase to your spouse or adult son. No matter how wonderful they are, your loved one may not realize how important it is to keep your seed phrase safe. It’s not that they have bad intentions, they may just have bad operational security. Imagine if they tape your seed phrase to the refrigerator so they don’t forget! Besides exposing it, they may lose your seed phrase altogether.


Don’t think that you’ll be successful in training or teaching your trusted loved one. Remember, self-custody is like a completely foreign language to them. When you first started with bitcoin, how many months or years did it take for you to understand how it all works? Your spouse or son might not want to learn about bitcoin, so they might take a photograph of the seed phrase or put it on a password manager app.

 

What about giving them a clone hardware wallet instead? All they need to do is remember the PIN to open it. This still isn’t a great idea for the same reasons we just discussed. Keeping the hardware wallet up to date is a job. There may be updates every couple of months, and your spouse or son needs to remember to manage those updates.

 

Besides, there is the risk of hardware failure. If your loved one doesn’t have the seed phrase and the hardware wallet is the only way to access your bitcoin, you’re looking at catastrophic loss. Even more robust external hard drives fail. Such technology could be outdated and difficult to open after many years.

You can't take back a secret

Once you’ve shared the seed, you can’t take it back. Think back to grade school: you tell someone your deepest secret and then realize that kid is a blabbermouth! You can’t undo what’s been done. Same with sharing your seed phrase. What if your relationship with that trusted person changes? You’ll need to create a new wallet and transfer your funds, otherwise your “secret” is with an untrustworthy person.

 

We see this with our non-bitcoin clients. They make a treasure map or write a letter of instruction telling their trusted person where everything is located. Once you create that treasure map or letter, you have to keep it up to date constantly. Life changes could occur making it inapplicable. Similarly, if you don’t trust that person anymore, you need to move everything and make new maps and letters.



Now you know why it is not secure to share your seed phrase. Hopefully this helps you to make the best bitcoin inheritance plan for your situation.

 

I am working on my bitcoin book, and I hope to get it out there soon! In the meantime, check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor”, available on Amazon. If you are a bitcoiner, you may want to consider hiring a professional executor to navigate this complex component of your estate.

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This is a very common question that we get from Solo Agers. We’ll review the pros and cons of making that decision.

Reasons to sell your home before you die
The biggest reason Solo Agers want to sell their home before they die is because they don’t want to leave a mess for their loved ones. Otherwise, there may be a lot of cleaning, maintenance, and packing for the heirs to do. Additionally, the house may need renovations before it is in sellable condition.

 

Another reason is that Solo Agers may want to downsize anyway. Downsizing is a different topic, so we won’t focus on that here.

Reasons to leave selling your home to your executor after you die

I often suggest that our Solo Agers live where they want and leave the task of selling the home to the executor after they pass.

 

Don’t spend your final years cleaning, packing, staging, and moving if that’s not what you want to do. It’s probably not on your bucket list to clean out your garage before you die. Do those things you always wanted to do. Enjoy life!

 

If you still feel that obligation to put things in order for your heirs, please know that probate is a mess no matter what. Don’t bother trying to leave it perfect. What if you clean out your home and you live longer than you expected? Now a new mess will accumulate. Even if you could know the exact date of your death, it still won’t work out perfectly.

 

Another example of “helping” heirs is making treasure maps to your keys or passwords. Don’t do it. You may move your keys or change your password and forget to update your treasure map. You don’t need to spend your final days and years making your death convenient for everyone else.

 

If you are still worried about burdening your heirs or executor, you could hire a professional executor. This could be us, or a bank, or a fiduciary company. It is the job of the professional executor to handle the cleanout, renovations, etc. Because we do these things so often, it’s not a big deal for us. And if something complex were to happen, then that’s our job, too. That’s what we get paid for. You can rest knowing that your professional executor is experienced and capable. You won’t have to burden your heirs with the tasks, and you won’t have to spend your final years worrying about what will happen after you die.



Most Solo Agers are relieved when they learn that a professional executor can handle all of this. My book, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan,” can help you decide which tasks (if any) you should worry about before you die.

 

I enjoy meeting more and more Solo Agers; it’s a growing population. As I work with them, I also learn a lot of things that I can pass along to all of you.


Complete this form to receive your complimentary copy of Anthony’s Amazon best-seller, “The Solo Ager Estate Plan”
 

When someone dies, many folks are confused about who owns the house during probate, right after the death. Technically, the heirs own it immediately upon death, subject to debts and taxes of the estate. But, sometimes is not clear who the heirs are. The probate process decides who exactly are the heirs and places an executor in charge to sort out all those debts and taxes.
So, the heirs own the house, but if it is not clear who the heirs are, then you kind of need to wait to see who really owns it. Understandably, this is a bit confusing. We’ll cover common questions on who owns the property during probate.
Can multiple heirs inherit a house?
Yes, multiple heirs can own the house either by will or deed. As you can imagine, having more than one heir inherit the house leads to a lot of problems.
The most common problem is when one heir lives in the house and won’t leave. Or maybe heirs can’t agree on how to manage the property. And, sometimes one heir wants to keep the property and the rest want to sell it. They might even disagree on how to buy each other out.
These conflicts often lead to a probate sale so everyone can take their share and walk away.
Can the executor sell a house that is in probate?
Does the executor have the power and authority to sell a house that is in probate? Yes, absolutely. Besides, selling the house is often necessary. Maybe the will instructs the executor to sell the house and divide the proceeds among the heirs. Sometimes the house has to be sold to cover the estate bills/taxes that the bank accounts can’t cover. Or, as mentioned above, the house has to be sold because multiple heirs can’t agree on what to do with the property.
Do all heirs have to agree to sell property?
Preferably, all the heirs should agree; that would make life easier! But they don’t necessarily have to agree.
If there is a court-appointed executor, then executor can make the impartial decision (if it’s a professional executor and not a family member). If the executor is a family member or one of the heirs, then the decision isn’t really impartial and there is potential for drama.
If multiple heirs are on the deed, then the house is technically not part of probate. If heirs are in conflict about the deed, then there will be expensive court proceedings to either bring the property back into the estate so the executor can decide, or a judicial partition where a judge decides. By the time these expensive court proceedings are over, there might not be much profit.
Naming multiple heirs on a deed is a variant of what we call the “beneficiary problem.”
Probate We get these questions a lot, so hopefully this helps clear things up for our callers and listeners! To learn more about the ins and outs of probate, check out my book, “How Probate Works,” available on Amazon.
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