Rant: Realtors and Living Trusts.

You know, it is interesting working with realtors in my practice. I work with a variety of realtors for my probate cases. In most of the probates I handle, we wind up selling the real estate to have some cash in the estate to pay for estate expenses and taxes.

I have a small team of realtors I prefer to work with, but I am always willing to work with realtors that my clients bring to the table. I understand that realtors make a tidy sum of money in commissions on probate sales. I also understand that just making one tidy sum on the sale of one property does not make one rich. Everyone gets a share of the tidy sum including the brokerage firm.

Despite liking every realtor I've worked with on a personal level, I find it amazing that realtors are not a good source of referrals for estate planning. I prefer to set up Living Trusts than to handle probate from a personal standpoint.

Sure, probate makes more sense for my practice from a financial standpoint.

I am, however, first and foremost an estate planning attorney that wants to help people avoid probate by putting their major assets into a Living Trust. I see this as my mission has someone who has lived the probate nightmare. I paid a probate attorney over $16,000 in attorney fees to handle my father's estate. I was still a law student at that time.

In California, a Living Trust is almost a requirement as our probate process is expensive, time consuming and emotionally taxing on everyone involved.

So, my rant is why don't more realtors emphasize how important Living Trusts are for California real estate? Don't say that the realtors want to make money doing probate sales. The heirs will still sell the properties if it is in a Living Trust. In fact, the realtors will make money faster as selling property inherited through a Living Trust is usually quicker and easier.

If you are a realtor, do you educate your clients after closing that they should put their home into a Living Trust? Post a comment as I would love to hear from you.

Comments

[none]

Sounds like you're asking realtors to engage in the unauthorized practice of law.

[Jennifer Sawday]

Heh. At least someone is reading these posts. Read it again.

I am ranting about why is that realtors do not understand the importance of Living Trusts for California property holdings.

And my rant is really a selfish one. How come I've yet to receive a referral from a realtor for estate planning? I ask this because realtors work with my target client: homeowners.

California homeowners should know that a Living Trust may be ideal for them to protect their loved ones when they die and avoid probate.

Most realtors I know could not tell you the difference between a Living Trust or a Living Will. I am not asking or suggesting that realtors prepare legal documents or give legal advice.

You don't need to be an attorney to understand how a legal document functions. Education about how the legal system works (i.e., probate) and giving a referral to an estate planning attorney to learn more about Living Trusts is not an unauthorized practice of law.

Since I give lots of business to realtors in my probate practice, it'd be nice if realtors were a good source of referrals. But they aren't and that's what my post is about.