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Mortgage Refinancing Help: Estate Planning and Administration
“Changing the term of your mortgage can help in several ways. First, if you were to refinance your current mortgage from 30 years to 15 years, you will accelerate the rate at which you pay towards principle each month meaning your house will be paid off quicker. Also, you will save an unbelievable amount of money in terms of interest because you would likely be taking 10 to 15 years off the life of your loan. Second, you can also refinance a 15 year mortgage to a 30 year mortgage. It seems like it might not make sense to do this, but if you have an immediate need to free up monthly cash-flow and you don't want to take out a home equity loan, this can work out to your benefit. When you take a 15 year loan and refinance it to 30 years you will have the same balance only the payments can be hundreds of dollars less than the 15 year loan. The only draw back to this is you will pay more in interest over the live of the loan.
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Mortgage Refinancing Help
: Society: Law: Legal Information
: Estate Planning and Administration (25)
 You can ask for a copy of your settlement cost papers (the HUD-1 form) one day in advance of your loan closing. This will give you a chance to review the documents and verify the terms.
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Estate and Gift Tax
- An overview of tax law with links to key primary and secondary sources, from Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute.
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 Planned Giving Design Center »
Providing planned giving specialists with resources they can use to advise clients and donors for advanced charitable gift planning.
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 EstatePlanning.com »
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 Tactical Wealth Advisors, LLP »
Overview of all the different types of charitable trusts, with a planning guide.
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 Layne Rushforth »
Includes discussions of wills, trusts, irrevocable trusts, charitable trusts, and business planning.
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 Staker & Associates »
Law firm, based in Camarillo, California, offering an overview of estate planning law and trust issues.
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 The Law Offices of Robert J. Mintz »
A chapter on family limited partnerships from an estate attorney. Includes recent developments and case studies.
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Information and estate planning forms.
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 Martin H. Cohen, PA »
Offers answers to frequently asked questions about estate planning.
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 SaveWealth.com »
Information on estate planning and asset protection strategies.
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 Heritage Living Trust »
Trust document preparation firm that specializes in liability, probate, estate taxes, and Medicaid protection through the use of, complex, contract, common law, and revocable living trusts.
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 State Bar Warns Public about Will and Trust Kits »
An overview of the complexities of estate planning, and why do-it-yourself trust kits may not adequately protect consumers. From the State Bar of Michigan.
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 Give yourself plenty of time to close. With most refinancings, your file is turned over to a closing or title company, which dictates the closing details. Like the lenders themselves, these firms are swamped when interest rates are low. Moreover, appraisers get backed up and can be difficult to schedule. So don't expect the closing to happen as quickly as anyone promises.
Don't escrow taxes and insurance. Unless you're undisciplined, avoid putting monies in escrow to cover your property taxes and homeowner's insurance. There's usually a fee for this privilege that runs under 1 percent of the loan amount, in states where it's allowed. "Paying the fee will allow you to time your tax and insurance payments to your benefit," says Bank South's Steve Austin. For instance, you may be able to prepay taxes that are due next year and use those payments to reduce your current tax bill. Moreover, you get to hang onto your money longer. That may be an advantage when interest-bearing accounts start paying more.
There is a refinancing myth that says you should not refinance your mortgage unless your interest rate will be at least two points less. This myth is not necessarily true if there are other benefits to the refinance or other reasons behind it.
Almost 30 million Americans qualify for a VA Loan. With a VA Loan, you can qualify for a VA Streamline Refinance. You may also be able to refinance your home with an FHA Streamline refinance.
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