The Pasadena / San Gabrial Valley Journal News - Black African American Business, Educationsl and Social News
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One Property, Many Probates
On several occasions I have handled multiple probates for the same piece of real estate. When someone passes away owning real estate that is not in a living trust or owned in joint tenancy with another person, the property must go through probate to change the ownership to the beneficiaries under a will (or the heirs at law if there is no will). If the beneficiary or heir does not change the ownership and passes away, his or her interest in the property must also be probated as well. What usually happens is that a husband and wife purchase a home but neglect to create a living trust to transfer ownership of their home upon death. After they pass away, one or more of their children continue to live in the house and nothing is done to legally transfer the title to the property. As long as the mortgage and property taxes are paid, this can go on for some time, maybe even two or more generations. When someone finally decides to sell or re-finance the property, he or she learns that several probates must be maintained before anything can be done with the property. A separate probate is required for each transfer. I recently handled three probates concerning a single piece of property – one from my client's great-grandmother to his grandfather; one from his grandfather to his mother; and one from his mother to him. At the time I was consulted, the property was still in the great-grandmother's name and nothing could be done with it until all three probates were concluded.
Multiple probates of the same property can prove to be very costly. Probate costs can range from 4% to 10% of the appraised value of the property for each probate. Additionally, it can be very hard to break the cycle of multiple probates. Even if the surviving heir/beneficiary has a living trust, he or she cannot put the inherited property in his or her trust until the title to the property has been transferred. If that heir/beneficiary passes away before the probate is finished, a probate of his or her interest in the property will then be required. That is the path the law dictates if the cycle isn't broken.
Union Bank Celebrates Black History Month with Commemorative CD
Celebrate the Sounds of the Black Experience Audio Compilation Features the Music of African Americans in Gospel, Jazz, Opera and Blues
As part of its ongoing commitment to cultural diversity and responsible banking, and in celebration of Black History Month, Union Bank has launched a Facebook initiative sharing audio tracks from well known African American artists.
Celebrate the Sounds of the Black Experience, an archive of seven audio compact discs that Union Bank produced from 2003-2009, is featured on the Spotlight section of the bank's Facebook page. The compilation highlights the importance of history, education, music and the arts within the African American community.
From gospel and jazz to opera and blues, it features the historical account of such musical greats as jazz artists Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday, opera singer Hope Foye and blues artist, actor and storyteller Art Evans.
The Celebrate the Sounds of the Black Experience seven-disc compilation features the following:
