Why Should Your Real Estate Broker Also Be A Certified Elder Law Attorney?
Our office routinely witnesses all of the following examples, which exist in our current case files:
Client #1
A real estate agent encouraged a client to sell her house while the "market is hot." The woman signed a listing agreement and made an offer on a new home. She was completely unaware that she would owe 24% of the sale proceeds, from the first home, in federal and state capital gains tax, if her house was sold within the next 60 days. Fortunately, this woman consulted our office before she accepted an offer on the first home. By obtaining the proper legal advice she was able to enjoy the tax-free sale of her home.
Client #2
Client’s father passed away. Five days later, a real estate agent saw the client’s father’s obituary in the newspaper. Next, the real estate agent apparently searched the public records for recorded deeds and noticed our office had prepared a deed during the estate planning process. The real estate agent called our office seeking our client’s address and telephone number. Nevertheless, rest assured that our office keeps all your personal information strictly confident.
Client #3
A real estate agent offered to sell Mom’s house while Mom was living. Mom was in a nursing home and paying $4,000 per month. Mom had received Medi-Cal benefits for almost 8 years. The real estate agent sold Mom’s house, took the commission and distributed the proceeds to Mom. Mom was immediately disqualified from receiving Medi-Cal benefits until she "spent down" the $500,000 in proceeds to $2,000. As a result, Mom and her family were forced to incur legal expenses to preserve all the house proceeds plus re-qualify Mom for Medi-Cal benefits. Had the real estate agent been familiar with elder law, all of the proceeds and the Medi-Cal benefits would have been protected without interruption.
Client #4
A real estate agent offered to sell Mom’s house after Mom had passed away and have the proceeds distributed to the beneficiaries. The real estate agent did not inquire into the health status of the beneficiaries. The real estate agent sold the house and had the funds distributed to all the beneficiaries. One beneficiary was an adult child with disabilities who was immediately disqualified from his government benefits of Medi-Cal and SSI. In an attempt to preserve benefits, the family quickly bought another house, having heard that the home was "exempt." Next, the family got a call from the Fraud Unit of the Social Security Administration requesting an immediate personal interview. Had the family sought legal advice before selling the house, the adult child would have maintained all public benefits and preserved his "inheritance" without court interruption.
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