You really need to get legal advice.
The situation now will probably require the estate to be probated.
The minimum charge for an attorney to handle the probate is probably $4000 and can take 6 months to a year to settle.
The house cannot be sold during this period.
A living trust should avoid probate and make transfers possible very quickly. A basic trust can be done with a legal professional for $500-$1000. With basic assets, it’s simple.
Anything with legal title should be put into the trust,
house, cars, bank accts etc.
Joint bank accts may not need to go into the trust.
POD (Payable on death) accts may or may not
Adding kids to property title could trigger a reassessment for
property taxes as of date of transfer.
Refinancing doesn’t solve the probate issue.
As SK said, get the Living Trust asap AND don’t forget to fund the trust (i.e. transfer title of assets into the trust)
make sure it’s done correctly.
It will cost a lot less than probate and save months of aggravation
