Are you Thinking About Buying, Selling, or Refinancing Your Home? Do you Have a Trust?

Are you thinking about the possibility of upgrading, downsizing, or refinancing your home? If so, do you have a Revocable Living Trust? If you answered, "yes" to both questions, then depending on what you plan to do, there are certain documents that you may need to provide to a mortgage, escrow, or titling company.

Buying or Selling Property. If you have a Trust and are thinking about buying property, you should purchase the property in the name of your Trust to avoid a future probate on that property. If you are thinking of selling your property that has been titled in the name of your Trust, you will need to sell the property as Trustee of the Trust. You, as Trustee, may be requested to provide certain pages from your Trust or you may provide a document called a Certificate and Affidavit of Trust, which includes information required by the mortgage or title company. It is important to remember that if your property is titled in the name of your Trust, the proceeds of that sale will be payable to the Trust. Therefore, if you do not have a Trust Account, you will want to open one so that the proceeds of the sale can be directed to that account.

Refinancing a Property. If you have a Trust and you are thinking about refinancing the property that has been titled in the name of your Trust, you have two options. One option is to provide certain pages of your Trust, along with the Certificate and Affidavit of Trust. You may also be asked to provide a Letter of Opinion or a Trust Certification (from an attorney) on the validity of your Trust. A refinancing company may be willing to refinance your property while it is "owned" by your Trust.

If the refinancing company does not want to refinance the property while it is in your Trust, then your second option consists of three separate steps. Step one is to execute a Quit Claim Deed from you, as Trustee of the Trust, to you, as an individual. Step two is to do the refinancing paperwork. At this stage, the property is in your name. Once the refinancing has been completed, it is important to proceed to step three, which would avoid a later probate. Step three is to do a Quit Claim Deed from you, as an individual to you, as Trustee of your Trust. This puts the ownership of the property back to the Trust, where it started, thus protecting it from a future probate.

If you have any questions about buying, selling, or refinancing a property and you have a Living Trust, please call Rehberg Law Group at 206.246.8772 and ask to speak with one of the members of the Asset Department.