Can you use a lady bird deed if you have a mortgage on your home?
Atty. Tom Olsen: Holley, here is a text question to us. Read it for us if you would.
Atty. Holley Knapik: Yes. This text question is from Annie, and her question is, "Can a Lady Bird Deed be used if there's still a mortgage on the home?"
Atty. Olsen: Good news, the Lady Bird Deed is a tool to avoid probate. The Lady Bird Deed states that as long as you're alive, it is your property to do with as you please, but when you pass away, that property will automatically go to your children. No headaches, no hassles, no probate. We can use that Lady Bird Deed on your home, your vacation home, your vacant lot, your commercial property, and we can use it even if there's still a mortgage on your property, Annie. The fact that you have a mortgage on your home would not stop you from doing a Lady Bird Deed to avoid probate on it.
Atty. Knapik: Absolutely. That's usually one of those wonderful things we can tell our clients, and they have a sigh of relief on their face because their understanding is, oh, but there's a mortgage, so I know I can't, or it's not fully paid off. It's not my home, so I can't. Yes, you can with the Lady Bird Deed. Indeed, you can.
Atty. Olsen: That's a common question people ask us. Tom, we have a mortgage on our home. What happens when we pass away?
Well, your kids are going to step right into your shoes, and keep on making those mortgage payments until they sell the property and pay that mortgage off, or eventually pay it off over time, so not a problem. If you've got a mortgage on your home, we can still do the Lady Bird Deed to avoid probate on it.
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