In today’s video, “An additional way to Find Assets From A Loved One Who Has Passed Away”, we’re going to cover an interesting way to find assets that belonged to the deceased and should be passed along to you (the Heir).
At InheritMore.com we specialize in asset recovery for Heirs. What does asset recovery actually mean? This means that we help Heirs to track down all the assets that have usually not been documented in a Will. The more common language may be helping Heirs to claim their Inheritance, to locate their inheritance, and to Probate a Will.
Nowadays, people are living longer than ever before which means that they accumulate more assets over their lifetime. When somebody passes away, there are often assets that go unclaimed because they don’t know about them or who to contact.
If you are the Executor of someone’s Estate, or if you are simply trying to recover assets after someone has passed away, this article will definitely provide some helpful tips.
As far as you’re concerned, as the Heir / Executor – this money is LOST to you since you have no easy way to actually find it. It’s not like a house that is very obvious and you know who it belongs to. It can take years of paperwork and time to figure out where all the money is located.
An asset can be a mutual fund, stocks, bank account, items in safety deposit boxes, additional property, etc.
It is entirely reasonable that the deceased did not just have money in the bank. In fact, most individuals have their money floating around in a variety of funding options. They may invest in a start up, they may put some money aside in a high yield insurance plan – unfortunately the possibilities are endless.
And while you are able to ask to change the documents to be what is called TOD – which is a Transfer of Death account – which would make it easier for an Heir to access the funds, this is NOT a common feature that is offered – you have to reach out and request it. In the absence of this document, it is not the institution holding the money’s responsibility to seek you out.
You have to seek out the money.
What is a Transfer of Death?
A transfer of death, also known as a TOD, is a document that is added to stocks and mutual fund accounts in order to ensure that the beneficiary will receive the funds when the account holder dies.
A TOD can be either a form or a letter. The form includes all necessary information for executing the TOD and it should be filled out by both account holder and beneficiary. The letter should include all necessary information in order for banks to know who should receive funds in an account holder’s name in case of death.
A transfer of death document, or TOD, is added to bank accounts and other assets in order to designate the next of kin for their inheritance. TODs are mainly used when someone has stocks or other assets that are not held in joint ownership with the deceased.
Knowing who has the rights to an asset and where it is held can be very difficult. This often leads to people unintentionally missing out on assets that they should have access to.
Which brings us to the topic of today’s video. In our 20 years of tracking down assets for Heirs, we have learned a LOT along the way and we are revealing a tip for you today:
If you’ve ever applied for a mortgage, whether for commercial property or for residential property, you know that you have to give a very lengthy and exhaustive list of all of the assets that you own so the bank knows to whom they are lending money. They would want this document for collateral as well as proof that you exist.
The lender will assess the borrower’s creditworthiness, income, and ability to repay.
The main reasons for a tough approval process are:
– Lenders need to assess the borrower’s ability to repay the loan with their current income and assets.
– The lender requires a certain number of months of stable employment as well as a good credit score.
– The property value needs to be sufficient enough for the loan amount.
– Collateral may be required in some cases: this can be home equity or other easily liquidated assets such as stocks and bonds.
All the above are the reasons that this is a really neat trick to find Inheritance that belongs to you.
I bring this up because if you’re the executor of a probate estate, meaning you’re handling the financial and legal affairs of someone who has passed away, you might want to find out if the person who passed away recently (within the last few years), granted a mortgage.
If they did, go to the lending institution and get a copy of the application for the mortgage that the deceased had submitted.
Because with application document for the mortgage, you’ll be able to see a list of the specific assets that the deceased listed while applying for the mortgage, as applying for a mortgage is all about showing the bank that you have the income to maintain your payments, and that you have enough savings or equity in your home to serve as collateral. Then you can go after each one of those assets, and make sure that you claim them. Then you, if you are an Heir can increase the inheritance that you, as well any other Heirs, may receive.
Now that you have a list of assets, the reality, from our years of experience – and recovering over $130 million in inheritance for Heirs, is that each one of the list of assets comes with their own drama. I’m not taking minor amounts of drama – I’m talking the kind of head banging drama that usually comes when bureaucracy gets in the way, the lines are long, the waits are endless, then you need one more document, and one more proof. Each one will have a gate in front of it – you’ll need a death certificate for one, a Will for others, approval from Heirs for others, etc etc.
When you are in the middle of working a full time job, and / or raising a family, and / or trying to actually enjoy life, the chore of tracking down these assets can be numbing. Hence the value of working with a company like InheritMore.com – pros at asset recovery, who knows how to handle the chore of asset recovery, and finding your Inheritance, efficiently, for YOU. No Drama.
Head over to our contact form to get in touch with us, or apply to work with us
That is really where this article ends. However, if you are here because a google search brought you this way – let’s focus on the issue of a deceased person with a current mortgage that needs to be paid and suddenly the income of the family has dried up and the mortgage is unable to be paid.
By the way, there are additional issues surrounding this as well. Let’s say the deceased borrower was the main breadwinner in the family. When they passed away, their spouse and children lost the only source of income for their living expenses. The lending institution should be able to do a quick evaluation of assets and see if there is sufficient equity in assets that can be used to cover outstanding mortgage payments.
The Bankruptcy Code defines a “deceased borrower” as a person who has died before the bankruptcy petition is filed, but after he or she incurred the debt. The law says that if the person who died was the main breadwinner, then the spouse of that deceased borrower or other relatives may use certain exemptions to get some relief from paying off that debt.
We hope this information has been helpful! I know it’s thorough. We have many other articles on similar and related subjects, all revolving around the subject of asset recovery, Wills, Inheritance. Hope you find this helpful.
We look forward to hearing from you soon, and wish you the best of luck
