Much depends on your role as assigned by your parent or the court, and your parent’s assets and actions while alive. In some cases, however, you may be able to help settle everyday financial obligations and take action on certain accounts. As tough a subject as this is to face, educating yourself now can make a challenging situation less difficult down the road. What To Do With Finances When Your Parent Dies Managing a parent’s estate—what’s left when they die—can be overwhelming....

Learn more about business divestiture, why it’s used, and what is involved. What Is a Business Divestiture? Business divestiture is the sale of a business asset in the hopes that it may be worth more to someone else than it is to the business at the time it is divested. Divesting is a method that can raise cash, eliminate waste, and streamline a company to perform better in the future....

Definition and Examples of Clear Titles Understanding what a clear title is is pretty easy. In short, a clear title means that no one else has any other claim to the title. This means there are no debts, liens, claims, or disputes about the title, or who owns the piece of property in question. Title companies can conduct title searches in order to verify whether or not the title is clear....

Alternate name: Pooled fundsAlternate definition: In other uses, “commingling” can refer to the illegal use of funds for something other than their original intention. For example, your employer offers a 401(k) plan. These types of retirement plans are a form of a commingled fund, since the investments are pooled as a result of the contributions from employees. Pension funds are another common type of commingled fund, as are insurance policies and other institutional accounts....

Consumption taxes were first introduced in the U.S. in the 1800s and have since been an integral part of the tax system. Globally, though, consumption taxes have a stronger presence and are a very popular form of revenue generation for governments. The United States is unusual in that there is no federal consumption tax on goods and services; it is up to state and local entities to set it up....

While many home sales have some contingencies, it’s important to find the right balance of protecting yourself without asking for too much and putting the sale in jeopardy. There are several common ones, but it’s not always a good idea to add them to your home contract. A home sale may be contingent on any number of factors; common ones include the timing of the sale, the condition of the home, the buyer’s ability to finance the purchase, or the home’s appraisal value....

Although title defects are frequently in the form of liens or judgments against property, they can also be things like missing signatures on filed paperwork, or inconsistent or conflicting land surveys, to note a few examples. There can also be state or federal tax liens on a property if the owner failed to pay taxes to the government by way of income, estate, or gift tax. As an example, suppose someone who finances a car through an auto lender is unable to sell the car before settling the balance of the loan....

For an example of feeder funds, we can look to investment management firm BlackRock’s master portfolios. BlackRock offers two money market master funds, the Treasury Money Market Master Portfolio and the Money Market Master Portfolio. An investor wouldn’t actually invest their money directly into those funds. Instead, each of those master funds has a corresponding feeder fund, whose investment results will correspond directly to the investment results of the master portfolio....

An individual and their spouse who haven’t owned a home in a three-year period prior to their purchaseSingle parentsDisplaced homemakers, even if they recently owned a home with a spouseThose who live in a non-permanent home such as an RV The importance of these definitions comes into play when someone is applying for down payment assistance, such as the American Dream Downpayment Initiative grant. There are income requirements to apply for this type of incentive, but you must also be a first-time homebuyer as defined by HUD....

How Does a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) Work? Here is a general overview of how a GRAT works: The Drawbacks of Using a GRAT Assets that are expected to appreciate greatly in value above can be transferred into a GRAT and in turn, move a significant amount of property down to the beneficiaries of the GRAT when the term ends. There are, however, two downsides to using a GRAT:...

Alternate names: Cooperation clauses, settlement cap provisions, consent to settle provisions For example, if your client or patient sues you and you have professional liability coverage, your insurance company will cover the expense for your defense, including any ultimate payout to the injured party. However, insurance companies know that lawsuits can drag on for years along with expenses. Plus, as a business owner, it might not make sense for you to settle the suit if you’re not pleased with the outcome or feel you’re not at fault for the injury—especially if you’re not the one paying for it....

The existence of a monopoly relies on the nature of its business. It is often one that displays one or several of the following qualities: Needs to operate under large economies of scaleRequires huge capitalOffers a product with no substitutePrompts government mandate ensuring its sole existenceMay possess—but does not always possess—technological superiority and control resources Examples in the U.S. The most famous monopoly was Standard Oil Company. John D. Rockefeller owned nearly all the oil refineries, which were in Ohio, in the 1890s....

An individual seeking to become a real estate appraiser must meet strict requirements, including a bachelor’s degree and state licensing. The licensing required will vary by state, but potential appraisers must meet minimum standards set by the federal government. Real estate appraisers are called for in a variety of situations, including when a property is sold, mortgaged, developed, insured, or taxed. Other situations in which a real estate appraiser may be required include:...

At full employment, the people in a country produce the maximum sustainable amount of goods and services possible. When the economy slows and enters a recession, the amount of goods and services produced falls, and unemployment increases. The difference between the two states is the recessionary gap. Alternate names: Contractionary gap, negative output gap The U.S. had an unemployment rate of 3.5% at the end of 2019, very close to full unemployment and the lowest unemployment rate since 1969....

Many banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions offer savings accounts in addition to other accounts. You might even find some savings accounts that offer higher interest rates than others. How Does a Savings Account Work? When you deposit money in a savings account, it is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). If something happens to the institution that your money is in, you’ll get it back—up to a certain limit....

If you’re currently trying to buy a home in a seller’s market, it isn’t impossible, but you may end up having to pay a higher price for the home you want. With the right strategies, however, you can successfully buy a house in a seller’s market. Definition and Example of a Seller’s Market In a seller’s market, there are more buyers looking for homes than there are homes available. Since there are fewer homes to choose from, multiple buyers will often be interested in purchasing the same properties....

Definition and Examples of Starter Homes The two main features of a starter home are generally that they are more affordable than the average home in a given market and that they are smaller. They may also have features that would make them less than ideal for long-term living for many buyers. Homes that are listed for less than the median home price in a market are often good candidates as starter homes....

However, even though you won’t receive regular interest payments, zero-coupon CDs usually come with a higher rate of return. That makes them good options for investors who don’t need immediate access to the funds. Definition and Example of a Zero-Coupon CD A zero-coupon CD is a certificate of deposit that does not make periodic interest payments (“coupons”) but generates a return by selling for lower than the face value that’s paid out at maturity....

Let’s look at what an exception item is, how this happens with payments, what banks do about such items, and how exception items affect banks and their customers. Definition and Examples of an Exception Item An exception item is a check or Automated Clearing House (ACH) payment that can’t be processed by a financial institution in the usual way either due to issues with the payment or due to a direct request by the payer....

How an Excise Tax Works Excise taxes are regressive because they impose the greatest financial burden on families that rely on or purchase a good number of these taxed items or services. These individuals are taxed regardless of whether they have the income to support this tax system. Those who earn the least pay about 7.1% of their incomes to excise taxes, according to a study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy....