Leaving property to your family is a goal for many people. We can prepare documents that would allow you to maintain control of your home and your family would receive it without going through probate.

Also selling and buying a home can be very complicated and expensive=even if using a real estate agent. Many situations can cause expensive issues such as inspections. Our real estate attorney can protect your interests and save you time and expense, and reduce your stress. Buying and selling a home is the most expensive transaction most people deal with in their lifetime.

Our real estate lawyer can provide invaluable insight if issues arise during the sale, such as these:

A For Sale By Owner (FSBO) arrangement is the process of selling your home without the representation of an agent. We can guide you through the numerous steps of the process and provide invaluable insight if issues arise during the sale.
You’ll need to settle any existing judgements or liens on your property before you sell your home. Our real estate attorney can help you negotiate payment with creditors or lienholders and ensure that these hindrances are removed.
Title issues can derail a sale. Illegal deeds, clerical errors or even previously unknown heirs can delay your home sale. We can help you to resolve these issues.
There could be a restrictive easement on your property that scares away potential buyers. Our real estate attorney can determine the durability of the easement and possibly terminate it altogether.
Some married couples split up and selling your shared home can be complicated if both parties are named on the mortgage and deed. If you’re already divorced or in the process, we can help unravel your home’s ownership and manage the disposition of the home, closing signatures and proceeds from the sale.
If you’re in financial trouble, our real estate lawyer can help you reach a deal with your mortgage provider to adjust or refinance your loan and avoid foreclosure. If this isn’t an option, we can help you negotiate a short sale with loan forgiveness and any other requirements that will help you move forward.
Renters may create unwanted complications when you wish to sell your home. Tenants have rights and you need to respect those rights legally. In addition to any lease agreements, there are laws governing evictions and landlords. Our real estate attorney can help manage the tenant aspect of your home sale carefully to prevent legal action
Inheriting a home from a family member can be complicated and trying to sell that home adds trust and tax implications that make the process even more perplexing. Our real estate lawyer can ensure that everything is done in accordance with the law and that your inheritance doesn’t become a financial monkey on your back.

Real estate attorneys address matters related to property, from transactions to handling disputes between parties. We help you to resolve real estate issues and avoid the time and high costs of going to court. If necessary, we offer mediation as well as negotiation in our practice on zoom or in person.

Real estate law covers deeds, property taxes, estate planning, zoning, and title.

We prepare and review documents relating to purchase agreements, mortgage documents, title documents, and transfer documents. Our real estate lawyer will handle the real estate transaction and attend the closing with the buyer. Closing is when the money is paid and the title is transferred. The attorney is there to ensure the transfer is legal, binding, and in the best interests of the client.

Real estate attorneys help facilitate real estate transactions. We review contracts, negotiate agreements between buyers and sellers, give title opinions, attend closings, and more.

Hiring a real estate attorney may be a wise investment, especially for short sales, if you’re buying or selling from out-of-town, or in situations with tricky property concerns.

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PHONE: (623) 628-1110
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Arizona Mobile Attorneys

Do I Really Need a Will?

Posted on April 9, 2024 by MikeKelly

Our clients have often asked us “Do I really need a will? This question often comes up because the client feels that “the law will take care of it when I die”, or the client doesn’t think they have a lot of property or money to worry about, or because the client thinks that they have already disposed of their property by other means such as a deed, a beneficiary designation for an account, a trust, or some other transfer besides a will that, unlike a will, allows the client to avoid a probate procedure in Superior Court.

The law will only take care of distributing your property if the law follows the way you want the property distributed. People who want their property distributed in a specific fashion should not depend on state law to do that job for them.

The other reasons stated above may be reasons for believing that a will is not needed for the purpose of distributing their property on death, when looked at very narrowly; however, a will has other purposes as well.

First, a will is used to identify a person’s heirs under the law. It is important to do so because will contests are often based on a failure of the testator to adequately state who his or her natural heirs are. This indicates that the testator may lack capacity to make a will. Stating who would legally receive your property if you had no will and died immediately is an important way to lessen the likelihood of any contest, even if some or all of these heirs will not be receiving anything from the will. Stating who your heirs are together with a statement in the will that specifically disinherits any or all of them can be very effective in disinheriting heirs if that is desirable.

Persons with minor children can nominate a guardian for them in their will. Such a nomination will be prioritized by the court over others who might be asked to be so appointed.

Even in the case of a small estate (in Arizona this would mean personal property of $75,000 or less and Real Estate of $100,000 or less) being named in a will entitles a person to utilize a much abbreviated probate procedure for small estates.

Finally, a will is a fail-safe document for property that is never placed in a trust or otherwise transferred outside of the jurisdiction of a probate court. A great example of using a will in this manner in conjunction with a trust is through a pour-over will. This type of will transfers any property subject to a probate proceeding into an existing trust to ensure that the trust provisions for distribution of the property will be applied.

Arizona Mobile Attorneys

A LAW FIRM THAT SPECIALIZES IN ESTATE PLANNING, PROBATE, ELDER LAW AND BUSINESS LAW FOR OVER 30 YEARS. WE MEET WITH CLIENTS AT THEIR LOCATION IN THE PHOENIX METRO AREA.

Real Estate Law- Buying or Selling a Home

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Do I Really Need a Will?