Title Search - Probate Proceedings - Index - Starter - US Mortgage

Module 11 - Probate Proceedings

Probate:

Probate is the legal process of settling a dead person's estate: specifically, distributing the decedent's property confirming the validity of a will.

Probate Proceedings:

1. Authenticating the last will and testament - Death Certificate and Will Document

2. Appointing the executor or a personal representative - administrator - testate (with a will) and intestate (without a will) administration.

3. Posting the Bond

4. Locating the decedent’ s assets 

5. Determining date of death values

6. Identifying and notifying creditors

7. Paying the decedent’s debts

8. Preparing and filling tax returns

9. Distributing the estate

1. Death Certificate

  Proof of Death Document

2. Last Will and Testament

  A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's wishes as to how their property is to be distributed after their death and as to which person is to manage the property until its final distribution.

3. Executor or Personal Representative (with Will)

  A personal representative is a person, appointed by will or the court, to administer the decedent's estate.

  In common law jurisdictions, a personal representative or legal personal representative is a person appointed by a court to administer the estate of another person.

4. Petition for Administration (Without Will’s)

   In cases where the deceased does not have a will, the probate court will have more oversight into the administration of the estate. For example, usually an administrator is required to post a bond and they must request the permission of the court to take almost any action with an estate, such as selling estate property. An administrator must also file an inventory with the court listing all of the assets of the estate. This is not the case with an executor, only by an administrator.

5. Letter of Administration (Without Will’s)

   Letters of Administration are granted by a Surrogate Court or probate registry to appoint appropriate people to deal with a deceased person's estate where the property will pass under the Intestacy Rules or where there are no executors living having been validly appointed under the deceased's will.

6. Summary Administration

   Summary administration is a procedure available to speed up the closing of an estate when further court supervision of the administration of the estate is no longer necessary. It may be used for estates with a will (testate) or without a will (intestate). The administration of the estate will be completed without further court supervision in accordance with the deceased's will and applicable law. 

7. Order Determining Homestead

   A court order determining homestead status of real property no longer makes the property a concern of the probate court and protects it from unsecured creditors. In most circumstances, the Order Determining Homestead cannot be obtained until after the three month creditor claim period has expired, and it confirms the property was the decedent’s Homestead as defined by probate law.

Index and Starters

Property Index (P.I.):

It is a chronological listing of different transactions on the property. A property index highlights the details of the current status of the property.

It reflects the current owners of the property and any liens or encumbrances open on the property, etc.

Chain of Title: It is a chronological listing of transfer of title or ownership of a particular property.

General Index (G.I.):

It is a listing of Judgments, Liens, Bankruptcy, etc., on a particular name for a particular County.

It is used to Identify or verify if the present owner or the buyer has unpaid liens or unclear Judgments recorded against them.

It is a list of al the names and documents that are similar or a perfect match which with the current owner or borrower.

Starter:

            Starter is also called as base file, which is helps to perform the full search orders, in starter search coverage date is mentioned, until the coverage date the search has been performed already, based on the base file we can perform the search after the coverage date to current effective date to complete the search in easy manner.

Types of Starters:

1. Direct Starter:

            In direct starter, directly matching with legal and address, which is called as direct starter (PIQ – Property in Queue).

2. Adjacent Starter:

            It is also called as C - Starter, Neighborhood address and legal is available in this Starter like adjacent or opposite or near property starter are called as Adjacent or C Starter.

3. Master Starter:

            Many Lots or Units are available and very difficult to find out the correct property legal, but subdivision or condominium names and Plat or CC&R are matching, this kind of starter is called as a Master Starter.