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Property transfer upon death made simple

By Robert Bruss, Monday, February 2, 2004.

DEAR BOB: When I die, I want to leave my house to one of my sisters. But I wish to avoid probate costs and delays. Rather than spend the money on a living trust, which you often recommend, I want to fill out a quit claim deed and sign my house over to my sister. However, she won't learn of this until my death (I will keep a copy with my will, which I will give to a trusted brother). Will my sister still be able to record my quit claim deed years from now (after my death) or is there a statute of limitation? She is an attorney and very bright – Gloria Z.  more...

Do you know the real price of your ARM?

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, February 2, 2004.

Adjustable-rate mortgages are complicated instruments. No one characteristic fully describes one. This is why, when readers ask me for the pros and cons of COFI ARMs, or Libor ARMs, or flexible payment ARMs, I get heartburn. You can't assess an ARM based on only one of its features.

But some features are more important than others. If any one feature deserves to be considered the "real price" of an ARM, it is the fully indexed rate, or FIR. Yet ironically, I have never had a reader ask me a question about the FIR.  more...