Real Estate, by its own very nature, is all black and white - you either do things, or you don’t.

There is no grey area in Real Estate, which one can find otherwise in commerce and trade. For instance, letter of intents that are widely used prior and during negotiations between corporations or between individuals and corporations have no place whatsoever in the world of real estate, where the only subject matter of trade is the exchange of titled interests in land for money. One cannot stipulate today to contract out in the future and hope the stipulation will be upheld, unless such an agreement is contained in a contract drafted and accepted today and is in the form of an option.

In essence, a stipulation to contract out at a later date is a void contract, meaning that such a stipulation does not exist under the law of real estate because no contract ever existed in the first place. Therefore the parties to the stipulation must be returned to their original bargaining positions as far as it is practically possible. This is also the case in the situation where both parties want the stipulation to continue - an impossibility since no contract exists between them in the present tense.

This principle was recently reaffirmed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in a case involving a private transaction between a prospective Purchaser and a prospective Seller. In this case there was a document executed between the parties, which clearly set out the legal description of the real property to be exchanged as well as the purchase price - CAD 580,000. The document also set out that there would be a deposit of $10,000 held by the purchaser’s lawyer in trust, that the deposit would be applied towards the purchase price and that it would be returned to the purchaser if the sale failed to complete.

Although on a cursory examination this document closely resembled a Contract Of Purchase And Sale there was, however, a fundamental element entirely missing: the date of completion. As no completion date had yet been agreed upon, a paragraph was inserted in its lieu that read as follows:

“The Contract of Purchase and Sale of the Property will be prepared by the Purchaser’s lawyers with terms & conditions, and the date of completion of the Property to be agreed by the Vendor and the Purchaser”.

Later on a completion date was actually agreed upon by the parties, stipulated to be March 3, 2005. On February 24, the solicitor for the Purchaser forwarded to the solicitor for the Vendor the necessary documents to complete the transfer. However, on March 3, 2003, the completion date set out in the document, the vendor declined to complete, on the grounds that there was only an agreement to agree in the future to the purchase and sale of the subject property.

The Court agreed with the Vendor. In reaching his conclusion, the Trial Judge opined as follows:

“Here the wording of the executed document is clear. The parties have said that a contract will be prepared with terms and conditions to be agreed by the vendor and the purchaser. “To be agreed” means some further agreement is necessary in the future. [...] this is a circumstance where “the execution of the further contract is a condition or term of the bargain”.

In other words, where the parties have stated that the terms and conditions are to be agreed, it cannot be said that the document is the mere expression of the desire of the parties as to the manner in which the transaction already agreed to will in fact go through.

The deposit was ordered reimbursed to the Purchaser forthwith.

Luigi Frascati

By: Luigi Frascati

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Criminal Lawyers

Beneficiaries refer to people who receive personal property, real estate or money from a benefactor. When inheritance is involved, the benefactor refers to a person who is deceased. Decedents can designate beneficiaries within their last will or by assigning beneficiary rights within life insurance policies, bank accounts or property titles.

The most common beneficiaries include the surviving spouse, children, relatives and friends. Decedents can also elect to bequeath inheritance property and monetary gifts to non-profit organizations, charities, scientific research groups, or institutes of higher education.

A last will and testament allows decedents to designate how their property and financial assets will be distributed. When decedents die without executing a last will, property is distributed according to probate law. Regardless of whether decedents execute a Will or not, the estate must be managed by a probate personal representative.

The estate administrator is responsible for many duties and must adhere to probate laws established in the state where the decedent resided. Some states require Administrator’s to obtain a cash bond. Others require court confirmation, while some states allow Administrator’s to manage the estate without court interference.

Estates must undergo the process of probate unless the decedent established a trust. Assets placed inside a trust are no longer considered part of the estate and are exempt from probate. Everything owned by the decedent is held in probate to ensure proper protocol is followed. Probate grants heirs and beneficiaries the option to contest the decedent’s last will and gives creditors the opportunity to make claims against the estate.

On average, probate takes three to nine months to complete. Much depends on estate value, types of inheritance assets, and court caseload. In order to avoid probate, decedents can designate beneficiaries to receive proceeds in bank accounts, retirement and investment portfolios, and life insurance policies. Beneficiaries can be established for real estate through Joint Tenants of Survivorship.

Motor vehicles, recreational vehicles, boats and trailers can be jointly titled for beneficiary designation. Upon death, the designated recipient must present the original vehicle title, death certificate and copy of the will or probate records and apply for a new title. The recipient can designate a new beneficiary to receive the property in the event of their death.

Property exempt from probate may require filing certain documents in order to legally make claim. For example, while retirement accounts and financial portfolios avoid probate, the estate executor must present date of death valuation forms to the county tax assessor’s office. If the decedent owed taxes, the estate is responsible for paying outstanding taxes before asset distribution can occur. Financial institutions cannot distribute funds until the tax assessor signs off on the forms.

While most of us don’t relish the thought of who will receive our belongings when we die, it is important to engage in estate planning. At minimum, execute a valid last will and update it when major changes occur, such as buying or selling real estate.

Estate planning can be accomplished by various means. Individuals with estates valued below $50,000 may only require a basic will, while those with larger estates may require an estate planner or probate lawyer. Keep the Will, along with life insurance policies and property titles in a safe location and provide copies of the documents to the appointed probate executor.

By: Simon Volkov

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Renting such a place also requires some papers for the rights of both the seller and the buyer. Well, renting can be done before the buyer finally paid for the whole amount of a certain place. This is how important the lease purchase agreement is. This is a paper containing the exact agreement between two parties regarding the properties.

There are three types of packages which includes:
1. Lease Purchase Agreement
2. Basic Purchase & Sale Agreement
3. Basic Rental Agreement

Usually, lease purchase agreement is used when a certain buyer really wants to purchase such property but is not ready to close the deal. It is also one way to allow the seller to rent the property to the buyer before or until the time it needs to be closed. The contract usually last for 1 to 2 years. It still depends on the buyer on when she/he can close the deal but the contract must not be exceed the 2 years.

However, having this doesn’t mean you are exempted in putting down your purchase deposit. The most reasonable and most ideal is 3% of the whole price which is still be negotiable. As a seller, you must ask for the right amount of deposit before allowing the buyer to move on to your place.

Having the most appropriate lease purchase agreement must be prioritized as this must contain the information and data needed to avoid further issues. You must get one of this with the supervision of lawyers and with the experts. However, if you are finding the most convenient and cheapest way, then you can browse the Internet and see who’s offering this certain agreement.

As you know, Internet already captured the business world and this is the best reason why you can find lease purchase agreement that is for sale online. Well, you just need to take this easily, slowly and carefully. You need to make sure that you will buy this certain agreement at the right company by looking for their previous clients who had been satisfied with their works. The proper agreement must contain all the decisions made by both parties where only signatures are missing. As an either buyer or seller, you are the responsible in providing the signs.

As a seller, you need to secure this agreement and you need to have its copy along with the signature and identification cards of your buyer. This is another way to secure that you are dealing with trustworthy person. Likewise, if you are a buyer, then you also need to have this lease agreement as you will put down an amount as a deposit so you need to make sure that your money will not be wasted.

By: Ems Aleks

About the Author:

Potty Training

Mrs. Jones came to see me after the death of her husband because she wanted help on the distribution of his property. She had gone to her bank to withdraw one of her CDs (certificates of deposit) in the name of both her and her husband. The bank officer stated, “Since your husband has died, we can’t release these funds to you without a court order.”

Warning! Joint Tenancy May Not Mean Right of Survivorship

Although the account was in both their names, it didn’t specify right of survivorship. That’s the first problem with joint tenancy: The belief that the right of survivorship exists just because both names are present on the document; the ownership must actually indicate a right of survivorship.

If you own real estate, you may be familiar with joint tenancy property. Deeds for married couples show the owners as: “John Doe and Jane Doe, as husband and wife, as joint tenants with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common and not as community property.” This means that in the event of the death of either person listed on the document, the property automatically passes to the survivor. No probate is involved.

That’s the upside to what’s known as right of survivorship. It eliminates probate on the death of the first spouse. In those instances, in the event of the death of either spouse, it’s better to own property in joint tenancy with right of survivorship than to have that property become subject to a will and therefore pass through a probate process.

Revocable Living Trusts Eliminate the Dilemmas

Listen closely; Revocable Living Trusts can remedy problems that are inherent with joint tenancy of property, right of survivorship, and community property. Although some people use joint tenancy to avoid probate, the problems associated with wills and the probate process can still catch up with them. However, property in joint tenancy doesn’t avoid probate in these two events: a common disaster in which both parties are killed or after the death of the second spouse. In both cases, the assets must go through probate. Only a revocable living trust bypasses the delays and costs of probate.

Beware of Solutions That Create More Problems

Next, she brought out three deeds to her residence. The first deed showed that she and her husband had owned the property as joint tenants with right of survivorship. It sounded good.

However, in 1981, they had transferred the property out of their names to a third party and then back into their names. (This is called a straw-man transfer and is often used to create a new or different type of property ownership.) Unfortunately, they transferred the property back as community property.

Mrs. Jones didn’t remember much about the transfer. She only knew that, in 1981, she and her husband became involved in an investment they thought might increase the size of their estate. To reduce capital gains taxes on a future sale, their attorney had recommended they take their property out of joint tenancy and title it as community property.

The couple hadn’t realized that community property doesn’t avoid probate. The attorney should have recommended they use a revocable living trust. (Currently, a new method to hold title is available: community property with right of survivorship. But this wasn’t available at the time.)

It’s uncomfortable to tell a widow that her recently deceased husband’s estate now owned half of her residence. We had to probate this estate to transfer half of the residence to her, the only heir of the estate. I was glad for Mrs. Jones that her case took the shortest amount of time I’d experienced to complete a probate: only five and a half months. Mrs. Jones came back to see me after the probate process was completed. She was determined that, upon her death, all her assets could be distributed to her children without having to go through probate. She wisely transferred all her assets to her own revocable living trust.

Be Prudent and Review Your Documents

Do you know how you hold title to your properties, CDs and bank accounts? Review your documents and then make an appointment with your estate planning attorney to re-title or best of all, create a revocable living trust.

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