[WSBAPT] net estate?

[Andrekita Silva]

  Law Office of
F.ANDREKITA SILVA
___________________________________

I agree with Phil. If the estate is paying for the repairs, it doesn’t  
matter.  

But, if PR is paying for the repairs, it is important for the PR to  
get the house appraised now, before she finishes all the repairs. Some  
repairs or improvements increase the value of property dramatically  
while others just make the real property more appealing and easier to  
sell.  So, the investment she makes to improve repair/ improve the  
property might be worth a lot more than a dollar for dollar  
reimbursement.

Although appraisers can go back and try to figure out what a property  
was worth before it was repaired and improved, their job is a lot  
easier if they can appraise property in real time.  Also,  those 1%  
heirs seem reasonable, but they might see things differently if she  
puts in XX $$ of her own money, the place looks fabulous and can sell  
for a lot more. There could be disagreement about whether a repair or  
improvement is worth the cost of the repair, OR if the repair actually  
added value beyond the cost of the repair.

Especially if she continues to live in the home. What if the furnace  
stops working tomorrow or what if a pipe backs up and bursts?  The  
home could not  be sold like that, and the house could be worth less  
than when husband died, but should other heirs bear that loss?  Is  
that something she should repair out of her own pocket or is that  
attributable  to general condititon of disrepair at the time of death?  

If home is appraised now, it eliminates future unfortunate events  
complicating the situation.
 
andrekita
Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva
1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, Washington 98101
206-224-8288
www.seattle-silvalaw.com

Quoting "Philip N. Jones" <pjones at duffykekel.com>:

> A will speaks at the moment of death, so the value is determined at  
> that time, not after repairs.
>   If the estate is paying for the repairs, then the answer probably  
> cones out the same either way.
>   If the wife is paying for the repairs, and the estate is valued  
> after the repairs, then she is making a gift to the other heirs.  
>  Does she want to do that?  Seems unnecessary.
>   Phil Jones
>
>    Philip N. Jones        Duffy Kekel LLP
>     Portland, OR
>     pjones at duffykekel.com
>     (503) 226-1371
>
>
>
>> On Jul 16, 2020, at 12:25 PM, Krista MacLaren <kjm.inc at mac.com> wrote:
>>  
>
>>  Hi Folks,           
>>      I am representing a PR in her late husband’s estate.  The  
>> characterization of assets is a bit tricky in my mind at least - he  
>> had earned everything prior to their marriage, and he retired  
>> before they got married.  He did not add her name to anything,  
>> though he gave nearly everything to her in his will.  They were  
>> married just two years, but had lived together for 10.  I am  
>> viewing the assets as all his separate property.  
>>       
>>      In the will, he gave the residue of his estate .1% each to  
>> three people, and 99.7% to her.  At the time of his death, the  
>> house they lived in (his) was in serious disrepair.  The roof  
>> leaked, the foundation was dangerously cracked, the basement had  
>> flooded, it had never been painted in 40 years, original carpeting,  
>> etc.  She wants to stay in it, but if she had planned to sell it, I  
>> think she would have been told to fix the items I have listed.  She  
>> is fixing them now.  I am wondering whether I am on solid ground  
>> telling her that the estate value on which to calculate the gifts  
>> to the nieces and nephew is after all of those home fixing  
>> expenses?  I don’t really expect the relatives to make a fuss, but  
>> I do want to give her solid advice.  I have assumed it is  
>> appropriate to take the value after the expenses, because if the  
>> house were being sold, it would definitely have been fixed up  
>> before sale.  
>>       
>>      Thank you!
>>       
>>                   Krista J. MacLaren
>> Attorney at Law
>> Northgate Executive Center II
>> 9725 3rd Ave NE, Suite 600
>> Seattle WA 98115
>> (206) 523-6116
>> kjm.inc at icloud.com
>>
>> Please note, as with most email providers, Mac does not encrypt  
>> email messages. Accordingly, the confidentiality of messages sent  
>> to this address cannot be assured. This e-mail is intended for  
>> viewing only by the individual or entity to whom its content  
>> is addressed, and it may contain confidential or privileged  
>> information. If you received this email in error, please honor the  
>> privacy of the intended recipient: reply to the sender  
>> regarding the error and delete the message.
>>  
>>
>> ***Disclaimer: Please note that RPPT listserv participation is not  
>> restricted to practicing attorneys and may include non-practicing  
>> attorneys, law students, professionals working in related fields,  
>> and others.***
>> _______________________________________________
>> WSBAPT mailing list
>> WSBAPT at lists.wsbarppt.com
>> http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbapt


 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20200716/a5f74935/attachment.html>