Ask Liz Weston

Get smart with your money

Q&A

Q&A: Transferring property after death

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Dear Liz: Just a quick comment on the woman who contemplated transferring her house to her partner and daughter as joint tenants. One must always consider the property tax impact on such transfers. In Los Angeles, real property that is transferred to a transferor’s significant other who is not the spouse or domestic partner will ultimately be reassessed by the county assessor. There are a number of property tax reassessment exclusions on transfers, such as from a parent to a child, from a person to his or her revocable trust and between spouses. This is why all factors must be considered before such a transfer is made.

Answer: A revocable transfer on death deed allows real estate to avoid probate in many states, but this option shouldn’t be used before thoroughly researching the consequences and consulting an estate planning attorney. Read on for an actual case where an ill-considered transfer had big financial consequences.

Q&A: Does moving to a new state necessitate a new living trust?

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Dear Liz: My husband and I have a revocable trust that was drawn up in Florida. We live in California now. We are renting and don’t own a house. Do we still need a trust if we don’t own property and have just one adult child to leave our financial funds to? One tax planner wants to charge us $1,800 to revise our trust to comply with California laws. That sounds high to me. What do you recommend?

Answer: Any time you move across state lines, you should have your estate documents reviewed and — probably — revised. State laws differ, and in this case you moved from a common law state to a community property state, where the rules differ a lot. Property acquired during marriage in a common law state isn’t automatically owned by both spouses, while in community property states, it typically is.

“Property,” by the way, doesn’t just refer to real estate. It refers to pretty much all your assets, including financial funds.

A relatively simple revocable living trust typically costs $2,000 and up, so the price you were quoted does not seem high, but you can check with one or two other estate planning attorneys if you want to compare costs.

Q&A: The downside of federal student loans

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Dear Liz: Are federal student loans turned over to a collection agency still collectible after 20 years?

Answer: Yes. Very much so. There is no statute of limitations on federal student loans, which means collectors can come after you until you pay or die, whichever comes first. Statutes of limitations on most other types of debt limit how long you can be sued. Federal student loans also typically can’t be erased in bankruptcy.

Those aren’t the only ways federal student loans differ from other debt. The government can seize your tax refunds or take part of your wages without going to court. Even Social Security benefits aren’t protected, as they are from other creditors.

So it makes sense to dig yourself out of this debt if you possibly can. You can find out how to do so at the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid site (studentaid.ed.gov).

Q&A: What to consider when deciding how to bequeath your home

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Dear Liz: I’m at 74-year-old retired woman living in a completely paid-off condo in California. I hold title in my name only. I would like to add my partner of 20 years and my married adult daughter to my home title so they will not have to go through probate if something happens to me. What would be the easiest way to do that? Someone told me a quick deed to each person giving them a third of the condo. I want it as joint tenancy so the condo would just go to the survivors. My parents always held title with my brother and myself. Do you see a problem with this?

Answer: The “quick deed” to which you refer is probably a quitclaim deed, which would transfer your entire interest in the property to someone else and possibly create gift tax issues. That’s not what you want.

Another option is a revocable transfer on death deed. Like many other states, California now offers this option so that real estate can bypass probate. You would retain ownership of the condo until you die, when it would pass to the people you designate.

But please think carefully before bequeathing a home to two people, especially two who aren’t related or married. What if your daughter needs to sell the house to raise cash and your partner doesn’t want to move? What if your partner needs to remodel the home as she ages but your daughter refuses to share in the costs? Would one have the wherewithal to buy out the other?

Another way to avoid probate would be to create a revocable living trust that allows your partner to live in the home until her death, said Los Angeles real estate attorney Burton Mitchell. The property then could be transferred to your daughter. It may not be the right solution, especially if your partner and daughter have similar life expectancies, but it’s one of many you should explore with an experienced estate planning attorney.

Q&A: Credit cards just keep coming

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Dear Liz: I use only two credit cards. But I have several credit cards I never use. When the cards expire, the issuers send me new ones. I just received two more cards, with new expiration dates, which I will not use. I keep hearing that cancellation of cards results in lower credit scores. How can I cancel all the unused cards I have without affecting my 797 score, and how can I stop them from sending me new ones without my authorization?

Answer: Your issuers can continue sending you new cards until the accounts are canceled. Your “authorization” isn’t necessary once you’ve applied for the card. Some credit card companies will close an account that hasn’t been used in more than a year, but others will keep accounts open hoping you’ll start using the cards again someday.

Having several credit cards is typically good for your scores — of which you have many, by the way, not just one. But you don’t have to keep unwanted cards forever. If your scores are in the high 700s you can close the occasional credit card account.

What you don’t want to do is shut down a bunch of cards at once, or close your highest limit cards. Credit scoring formulas are sensitive to the amount of your available credit you’re using. Anything that significantly reduces the amount of available credit you have can hurt your scores.

Q&A: Credit score after bankruptcy

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Dear Liz: This is just to add to your observation that credit scores tend to improve after a bankruptcy. I filed Chapter 13, which required a five-year repayment plan. At that point my score was around 640. The day of the discharge, I was able to get a car loan at 3% interest. Also, the bankruptcy dropped off my credit reports seven years from the filing date, and my scores actually dropped a good bit.

Answer: It’s pretty unusual for scores to go down after a bankruptcy drops off your credit reports. It’s possible you weren’t looking at the same type of score because there are many different formulas in use. It also could be there were other changes that happened simultaneously, such as a high balance on a credit account or an old, paid-off loan that a creditor stopped reporting.

It’s not unusual, though, for someone who completes a Chapter 13 to get a competitive rate on a loan where there’s collateral, such as an auto loan, assuming he has a job, credit score expert John Ulzheimer said.

“Debt free plus employed equals not a bad risk, especially if they put down a decent down payment,” Ulzheimer said.