Posted by Dwan Bent on July 11, 2002 at 20:55:38:
Hi Jay,
Congrats on your first deal. I have three suggestions for protection:
First, you could deed the property into a land trust making yourself the trustee. This way, if the owner passes, you have control and can then deed the property to yourself with no probate mess.
Another option is to have the owner sign a deed, made out to you, that the title company holds in escrow. The deed will need to have an attached letter with specific instructions to file the deed upon death to avoid probate.
One more option is to make yourself executor of the estate (hard to do if there are kids), then you handle probate, and issue deeds as needed.
Hopes this helps.
Sincerely,
Dwan Bent