How Do I Protect My Assets From Creditors?

 

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How do I protect my assets from my creditors?  Well, the first thing you need to do, particularly if you’re married, is to have the credit in just one spouse’s name, and that way, if there’s any credit problems, they can’t attach the assets that are held jointly as husband and wife.  So you need to title your assets as husband and wife, and that includes your bank account.  So whenever you go to the bank, the next time you go to the bank, if you’re married, be sure that you talk to your bank representative.  Ask them to pull your signature card, and be sure that the card provides that you are – you hold the account as tenancy by the entireties or you have it as husband and wife rather than as joint tenants with right of survivorship.

 

If the account is held as joint tenants with right of survivorship, that means that both of you have a one-half interest in the account, whereas if you hold it as husband and wife or tenancy by the entireties, you do not have a half-interest in the account or the property; you have an undivided interest in the whole.  So it’s important that you have the accounts or your assets held as husband and wife and therefore any creditor who is against only one spouse cannot attach the assets that are held as husband and wife or held up by tenancy by the entireties.

 

You say, “Well, I don’t have the luxury of being married,” or, “if I’m married I want to keep my assets separate.”  Well, some of the investments that you can have to protect them against creditors is if you invest in annuities.  Annuities are something that cannot be attached.  But the main asset that can be protected from creditors, and it doesn’t matter how much you owe them or how many judgments you have, is your home.  Your home is your biggest asset.  You can own your home.  Creditors cannot take your homestead away from you, and even if you don’t owe any money on it, they still can’t take it.  When you pass away, if you leave it to your children or your heirs, well, they still don’t get paid whenever you pass away, and it is passed on to your heirs.  So your homestead is your very best investment as far as protection from creditors.

 

So if you have anymore questions or need to do some estate planning as far as asset protection and estate planning, well, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

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How Do I Protect My Home From Nursing Homes?

 

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How do I protect my home from nursing homes?  Well, this is a question I get asked quite often in that nursing homes do not take your home away from you.  Now, this is Florida specific, in that your home is considered your homestead and cannot be attached by any of your creditors.  But a nursing home is going to require payment for you to stay there, and if you have to be in a nursing home, you do need skilled nursing care.  So the question is: how do we pay the nursing home if you don’t have to sell your house?  Well, that comes in as far as applying for Medicaid, and you can make application for Medicaid provided that you meet certain asset tests and income tests and your homestead property does not count as far as your assets are concerned.

 

So if you’re concerned about your skilled nursing care and nursing homes taking your home away from you, you don’t need to worry about that.  However, it might be well to do some planning as far as Medicaid planning and qualifying or being qualified to get assistance through Medicaid for your skilled nursing care.

 

If you’d like to do some Medicaid planning, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

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Foreclosure Commercial

 

In his continuing efforts to educate and serve the community, Chip Waller talks about real estate foreclosure and what your options are in this commercial.  If you have questions about a foreclosure or questions regarding your options with a mortgage that you are having financial difficulties paying, call our office and schedule an appointment to become better informed and make an educated decision.  We are here to help you!

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What Do I Need to Do to Start a Business?

 

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How Can I Decide What Mortgage is Right for Me?

 

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How can I decide what mortgage is right for me?  Well, the first thing you have to do is decide how long you want the mortgage for, and for what purpose.  If you simply want a short-term mortgage and you just need it for a short period of time until you sell some other property, you may consider obtaining what they call a home equity loan, which can be closed fairly quickly and without a whole lot of paperwork or closing costs.  They’re offered at right now a very low interest rate.  Usually, it’s an adjustable interest rate, and so you can borrow money and use that for a short period of time and then pay it off with minimal closing costs.

 

If you’re buying a home and you anticipate staying in the home for some time, then you would look for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage and find out what the payments are.  If you would like to get out of debt quicker, well, then you can ask them what is the interest rate on a shorter-term loan, such as a 15-year fixed rate loan.  If you want to try and keep your payments low for the initial period of time of, say, two years, you can talk to the lenders about an adjustable rate loan.

 

In fact, over the course of time, I think adjustable rate loans have proved to be less expensive than fixed rate.  But most people like to have the peace of mind knowing that their mortgage interest rate will not go through the roof so that they will be priced out of their home.  So a lot depends on your financial wherewithal, what your income is, and what you can afford to pay, and how quickly you would get out of debt, and for what period of time you would like it.  If you’re dealing with investment property, usually you want to try and get the low interest rate for as long a period as you can, and with the right to prepay your loan, which you usually can negotiate or that’s usually a factor that is included in most notes and mortgages.

 

I will say presently, the underwriting requirements for mortgages has gone up substantially, so it is very, very time consuming, tedious, to obtain a mortgage from an institutional lender, no matter who you pick.  And it takes a lot of paperwork and a lot of patience.  And usually, it takes you probably about 45 days to obtain a loan, even if you have good credit and the property appraises for the amount that you’re purchasing it for or what you’re attempting to refinance.  Usually, you can obtain a mortgage at 80 percent loan to value and not have to have any mortgage insurance.

 

However, if you have a small down payment, well then you might want to explore getting an FHA loan or a BA loan, which will require up to three percent down payment.  However, built in both of those loans will be some mortgage insurance.  Or if you just get a conventional mortgage with mortgage insurance, you can get a high interest rate, high percentage loan to value loan.  But it is gonna take some time and patience.  So if you have any questions, well, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

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