What is the best way to avoid probate on a home with a mortgage?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
What is the best way to avoid probate on a home with a mortgage?
My mom is dying from stage 4 cancer and I’m trying to save her home from probate. Her home has a small mortgage and the assessed home value is less than $45,000. She has a Will naming me as the executer of
her estate and I have a financial POA. Can we use a quit claim or transfer on death to avoid probate when a mortgage is still attached to the home? If not, what are our options to avoid probate?
Asked on December 10, 2018 under Estate Planning, North Dakota
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
No, unfortunately, you cannot transfer a home with mortgage without paying off the mortgage, so as long as the mortgage is in existence, there is no way to put the home wholly or partially (e.g. as "joint tenants with right of survivorship") in another's name so as to avoid probate. If you or she pays off the mortgage, however, then you could quit claim it (e.g. to yourself).
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.