Video Summary

How are items in a trust insured? We need to look at the basics as far as what we talk about as far as a trust is concerned. A trust is simply a legal document. It’s a road map. It says what the trustee is supposed to do, so items are titled in the name of the trustee of a trust, and the trust documents tells the trustee what they’re supposed to do with the documents.

So usually, we treat that … It’s usually an estate planning trust is called a revocable trust, and you name yourself to be the trustee and direct that all the property be distributed to you whenever you ask for it, and you have complete discretion. You don’t even have to change the federal ID number as far as that’s concerned.

So you as the beneficial owner of it, you just insure the property in your individual name during your lifetime. Then upon your death, and if you say that you left property, real estate, and it went to a child or someone for their benefit and to be held during their lifetime, well, then you need to talk to the insurance agent and probably have the lawyer assist you. And the insurance agent, once they understand how the trust works and who the beneficiary is, they would insure the beneficial owner, who is the beneficiary of the trust. They may also name the trustee as a beneficiary for the … maybe the trustee FBO, which stands “for the benefit of” and name the beneficiary as far as insuring the property.

Hopefully, that gives you a little bit of overview of how a trust works and as far as getting insurance. But it’s basically the insurance company will insure the beneficial owner of the property, and you just need to work with the agent to let them know how that works. If you have any questions about trusts, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

If property is damaged by a hurricane during probate, who covers the repairs? The first thing that you would need to look at is, did the decedent have an insurance policy that covered the property such as their home? If so, and the premium has been paid through the time of the hurricane and they have coverage, I believe that the insurance company will probably cover that. You might look at the deductibles for hurricane, which is usually substantial. I think it’s 5% of whatever your loss are, or may be even more. And so, that’s what the deductible is, but usually the insurance companies would have it.

If there is no coverage as far as insurance coverage, well, it’s simply a casualty loss [sum 00:00:58] and you don’t have any. The estate and the beneficiaries bear the loss. This is also a problem when it comes to some of these life estate deeds. Some people have received property under a Lady Bird Deed upon the death of the primary person, well, there is no longer any coverage for the decedent and so it’s imperative that you see about getting insurance coverage as soon as the life tenant or the person who granted the Lady Bird Deed passes away.

If you have any questions, well, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Can a foreclosure be delayed due to a hurricane? The answer is yes it can be. There is any number of reasons why that can happen. Number one is if you have a hearing or a foreclosure sale that is scheduled and the courthouse shuts down, well, guess what? They are not going to have a hearing, so your foreclosure can get delayed because of a hurricane and the court system shutting down. I’ve also seen if you don’t have court hearing and you have a pending foreclosure, an action that’s pending, sometimes the … and it’s a federally insured or an FHA BA type loan, they may delay, put a moratorium for a couple of months to determine whether or not you’re in a disaster area and the status of the property. That happened in a recent hurricane I saw where they put on hold I think it was like for two or three months any foreclosure proceedings. They stayed them while they evaluated whether or not the property had suffered any loss or you were unable to take care of the foreclosure or reinstate the foreclosure.

A hurricane can delay a foreclosure action particularly if there is any damage to the collateral that might be a factor, although the bank or whoever is … if their named, an additional insured would be entitled to the insurance proceeds if they completed the foreclosure. If you have any questions about foreclosure, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Should I have to evacuate for a hurricane, what documents should I take with me?

Well, some of the obvious ones which I would suggest you try and put into Ziploc bags or some other kind of waterproof documents and also have them organized and plan ahead so that you can just grab them and go would include: A birth certificate, passports, social security cards, marriage certificates, death certificates of spouses or parents. If you have children or dependents, significant other, all of their documentation. Another document which I think would be very helpful is to take your insurance policies that cover your home or your other property as far as that’s concerned to have that with you.

If you have a lease; if you’re leasing the property, be sure to take a copy of your lease so that you know what rights you have as far as that’s concerned, particularly if there is a casualty loss. If you have unrecorded deeds that give you the right to occupy a property or to purchase property that are unrecorded, you certainly need to preserve those and take those with you. I don’t know that this is an extensive list, but certainly, those documents should go with you and I’m sure that there are others that you should take along with you but don’t come to mind.

So if you have any questions about your documents, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Are probate proceedings public record? The answer is yes, they are, and that’s the reason why many times, people will want to choose a trust administration rather than a probate administration. But yes, a probate administration is public record, particularly having the will admitted to probate, which shows who the beneficiaries are. The will serves as a conveyance of real estate, and so it’s important to have the will admitted to probate or have it public record, so that you, when you examine the public records, know who owns the property after someone passes away. So if they don’t have a will, they determine who the heirs are, to show who the owners of the real property are at their death. So, yes it is public record, and it is very necessary, particularly when it comes to titles to real property. So if you have any questions about probate and titles, well give me a call at (727)847-2288.