Anthony S. Park

Based on feedback from you, the audience, we're pausing these episodes and will focus on writing instead: Our blog: https://anthonyspark.com/#blog Our books on https://amazon.com/author/anthonyspark Reviews always appreciated! Thank you for sharing all your amazing questions and stories, and thank you for listening!

There is no legal time limit to transfer real estate after death. It could happen quickly, or it could take years. We’ve seen cases where the real estate doesn’t get transferred until generations later. A fast sale is ideal, because problems can emerge in the meantime. There is a lag between the date of death and when the executor gets legal authority to handle the property. So, even “fast” isn’t...

We’ve talked before about not making a loved one your executor. I recently read an article titled, “ 2 Big Reasons Not to Make a Loved One the Executor of Your Estate .” Here, we’ll add our own perspective for why it’s not a great idea. Being executor can be emotionally difficult It is a duty that begins almost immediately after the death of your loved one. You are grieving the loss while facing a...

In this episode, we will talk about self-custodied bitcoiners (not those who have their coin on an exchange or with a third party) . Some bitcoiners share their seed phrase with their spouse or adult children. Or perhaps they share their cloned wallet with those trusted individuals.   It’s temptingly easy, essentially frictionless to share your seed phrase . But, as we’ll discuss, it can be insecu...

This is a very common question that we get from Solo Agers. We’ll review the pros and cons of making that decision. Reasons to sell your home before you die The biggest reason Solo Agers want to sell their home before they die is because they don’t want to leave a mess for their loved ones . Otherwise, there may be a lot of cleaning, maintenance, and packing for the heirs to do. Additionally, the...

When someone dies, many folks are confused about who owns the house during probate, right after the death. Technically, the heirs own it immediately upon death, subject to debts and taxes of the estate. But, sometimes is not clear who the heirs are. The probate process decides who exactly are the heirs and places an executor in charge to sort out all those debts and taxes. So, the heirs own the ho...

What are the risks of being an executor? An executor has a lot of power and responsibility during probate, but is correspondingly accountable for everything that happens within the estate. We’ll cover how an executor has risk of even personal liability, how long that risk lasts, and how an executor can protect himself from these risks. Executor personally liable for debts and taxes The executor ha...

A letter of instruction will likely fail for your bitcoin inheritance plan and should have only a marginal role in your plan, if any. Search for “bitcoin inheritance” and you will probably find lots of people advising you to write a letter of instruction for your heirs. We talked about this and even provided a sample letter of instruction . Now, having spent a bit more time delving into different...

I do serve as a professional trustee, not just executor, or our Solo Ager clients. We’ll cover why our Solo Ager clients are looking for a professional trustee, why they don’t use banks, and how much it costs to hire a professional trustee. Disputes between trustee and beneficiary Why are our Solo Ager clients looking for a professional trustee? The main reason is because of potential disputes bet...

This happens when the buyer agrees to a higher contract price, but the seller also agrees to credit back a set amount to the buyer, so the net purchase price is lower. For example, if the buyer wants the house for $250,000, they would set the contract price at $300,000 with a side agreement that the seller would credit $50,000 on the closing statement, effectively making the price $250,000. Why no...

We’ve talked before about why Solo Ager estate plans must be frictionless . Same goes for a bitcoin inheritance plan, even more so. The best inheritance plan is the one that actually exists In general, 60 to 70% of people have no will or estate plan at all. Why don’t they have an estate plan? 44% is due to procrastination - “I have time; I’ll get to it later.” 25% of people are not sure where to s...

Folks who are interested in naming me as their professional executor ask how much it costs to get started. There is no cost! We’ll explain why, what you get, and what to expect. It’s just a nomination At this point, you are healthy and just being responsible by making your estate plan. When you name me as trustee in your trust or as executor in your will, it’s just a nomination; I haven't done any...

Barring a terminal illness or physician-assisted death, it’s very hard to know when you will die. The world changes very quickly, and you do not know what the world will be like at the time of your death. For example, there were no iPhones two decades ago, and now look how technology has evolved. So, to future-proof your plan, you must keep it as flexible as possible. Inheritance plan vs actual ci...

Physician-Assisted Dying has other names that might be familiar: death with dignity, aid in dying, assisted death, euthanasia, and assisted suicide Since we’ve received many inquiries from our Solo Agers, here some of your FAQs: Making arrangements from Switzerland Can my professional executor help make arrangements from Switzerland after I pass? Switzerland is often the go-to jurisdiction, but th...

Should you look for a broker or lawyer first when selling a probate property? With non-probate home sales, brokers are the first to list, set an open house, and find a great buyer. Lawyers only get involved once a buyer is in place and a deal is struck. The lawyer then drafts the contract and conducts the closing. But with probate, talking to a lawyer first makes more sense. Here’s why: Talk to a...

How much does a professional executor cost? Most people are surprised to learn that executor fees are the same whether you choose an experienced professional or your unemployed nephew who has lots of spare time. When people realize that they are paying the same cost, they will probably choose a professional executor. In fact, your estate will probably even save on expenses with a professional vs.a...

A deadman’s switch is a seemingly elegant and trustless solution for bitcoin inheritance. But if you think it through, it currently has too many problems to work securely. A deadman’s switch is a protocol or mechanism where, if the creator misses a periodic check-in (ex. push a button every 3 months, reply to a monthly email, etc.), it's assumed the creator has died and will trigger an event. Type...

Our Solo Agers friends often ask this when they’re ready to name me executor in their will. We support well-done DIY wills and anything that helps make your plan as frictionless as possible. Some kind of plan is almost always better than no plan! So, do you need a lawyer to make a will? No, we’re not aware of any state that requires a lawyer to make your will. We do nonetheless recommend that our...

Why do heirs suddenly need to sell probate real estate? We see cases where years, even generations, have elapsed since the real estate owner has died, and nothing has been done. So why, all of a sudden, do the heirs seek a lawyer or professional executor? Here are the top 5 reasons we’ve seen. 1. Bad economies mean heirs need money When there’s a recession, our office gets busier. It seems that wh...

When we chat with new clients, we ask them why they chose to look for and hire a professional executor . Here are the 5 most common answers. Perhaps you will see yourself in one of these situations. 1.  There’s no one else There may not be any close family or friends due to old age or because the client is a Solo Ager . Or maybe a client does have close family and friends, but they do not live nea...

Multisig or a passphrase (" poor man’s multisig ") are two ways to transfer custody to your bitcoin executor upon your death. Let’s compare, so you can decide which best fits your bitcoin inheritance plan. Why multisig for bitcoin inheritance? The main feature is splitting access to your bitcoin , so that it’s not catastrophic if just one of your keys is revealed, leaked, or hacked. While you shou...

A frictionless first estate plan is a great first step for Solo Agers with no plan at all. It helps Solo Agers clarify their thinking and decisions, all while having a basic plan in place in the meantime. Why Solo Agers need a frictionless first plan We’ve heard from many folks who are stressed because they have no plan whatsoever. In general, Solo Agers don’t have the traditional heirs and family...

Let’s discuss how, why, and how long it takes to get “fresh” Letters Testamentary in New York. Fresh letters simply means that they are newly dated. Most of the time, probate takes months or even years , and during that time, you may need to get fresh copies of the letters to use. Do letters of testamentary expire? One question we get is “ do the letters of testamentary expire? ” Technically , no,...

As we’ve spoken about before, Anthony can be your professional executor, even if you don’t live in New York . We have been seeing many inquires from out of state lately, and these are the top 5 looking for Anthony to be their professional executor. We are located in New York, so we are not including New York inquiries on this list. While this isn’t a scientific study, this is what we are seeing ba...

As you may know, Bitcoin does not have layers like legacy and traditional accounts do, so an inheritance plan needs to be created. We will discuss the drawbacks of constantly seeking and getting stuck on a “perfect” Bitcoin inheritance plan, and a few solutions for approaching the creation of these layers. Legacy assets have inheritance layers, bitcoin does not Legacy assets (banks and financial i...