People that live outside Florida still need to avoid probate on their Florida real estate

Attorney Tom Olsen: I know there's listeners out there right now that are thinking, "Well, I have an aunt, an uncle, a brother, sister, friend, neighbor, they live in another state. Certainly, they'd be getting their estate planning done in that other state. What do I need to tell them?" Well, tell them if they own a home, a piece of property in the state of Florida, we can do that part of it to help them avoid probate on their Florida real estate.

Attorney Chris Merrill: Exactly.

Tom: And you'd be doing them a big favor, which also reminds me that I had some clients come in on Thursday and their mom had passed away. We'd done a ladybird deed for mom and they said, "Okay, mom has passed away. What do we do now?" I said, "Well, do you have a copy of her death certificate?" "Yes." "Well, all we have to do is record your mom's death certificate into public records and her home automatically belongs to you. No headaches, no hassles, no probate." They both looked like their jaws just dropped.

They just came in here with some kind of expectation that this is going to be long, complicated and expensive, but no, it's just that simple. [unintelligible 00:00:56] the death certificate, home automatically belongs to them, they can turn right around and do whatever they want to with it.

Chris Merrill: Thank you. Thank you, Tom. Let's go a little bit further on that. Because mom did the ladybird deed, within the ladybird deed, not only did mom retain complete control as long as she was alive, but when she passed away, because of the legal way that we prepare the deed and the names of the loved ones in there, that's why upon recording of the death certificate, now, whatever county it is in Florida, they update with the name that was listed in the ladybird deed.

Tom: Yes. When we do that ladybird deed within the body of the deed itself, it states who gets the home when mom passes away. We're talking literally the names of, in my situation, the two daughters. That once we record mom's death certificate in the public records, it automatically goes these two daughters. Property records will update their website to show these two daughters are the owner. Their title is clear for them to sell, refinance, whatever they want to do with it.

Chris Merrill: Exactly.

Tom: It's a very powerful tool, the ladybird deed, for avoiding probate. By the way, we have booklets on easy ways to avoid probate and how to avoid probate on your home. If you'd like to get those booklets, you can call the Olsen Law Group anytime, hey, including right now because Holly's up front at 407-423-5561. If nobody picks up, just leave your name and mailing address, we'll get those booklets out in the mail to you. As well, you can always order those booklets through our website, olsenlawgroup.com. When you look at the booklets on the website, we have, I think maybe like 8 or 10 different titles-

Chris Merrill: We do.

Tom: -that people can pick and choose which ones apply to them.

Chris Merrill: Correct.

Tom: Check it out. These booklets are easy to read, nice big font, easy to understand.

Speaker 3: One minute.

Tom: We'd love for you to get your own. I think you'll find them very useful, easy ways to avoid probate and how to avoid probate on your home. To get those booklets, call the Olsen Law Group anytime at 407-423-5561 or order them through our website, olsenlawgroup.com. Hey folks, my name is Tom Olsen. The name of the show is Olsen on Law. We're going to take a break. We'll be back in just a few minutes.

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