Expected Inheritances

Many of us are will have expected inheritances when our loved ones pass away. In fact, depending on our individual financial circumstances, we may be counting on those inheritances to pay expenses. Inheritances can be life-changing, allowing people to pay off bills, invest in businesses, go to school, or simply continue with a certain standard of living.

Instead of getting into debt, while you are waiting for a court to probate the estate, you can get an advance on your expected inheritances. An advance lets you get access to part of your expected inheritance, without tapping into your personal credit lines. Advances also come with up-front fees, letting you skip the risk of paying high interest on other types of credit. Of course, the limitation of an inheritance advance is that it cannot be larger than your expected inheritance.

An expected inheritance is the portion of an estate you are expected to inherit. Determining your expected inheritance requires knowing what portion of the estate has been bequeathed to you and the total amount of the estate.

Sometimes evaluating your expected inheritance is simple. For example, if an estate has plenty of assets and you are bequeathed a specific cash amount, that is the amount of your expected inheritance. However, it is usually more difficult. Most heirs are left a portion of the estate. Furthermore, most estates are a mix of real property, personal property, and liquid assets. Evaluating the value of the estate means determining the value of all of that property.

Of course, we do not have to determine the exact amount of your expected inheritance in order to give you an inheritance advance. Generally, we only purchase a portion of an heir’s expected inheritances. It would be rare for us to purchase 100% of an expected inheritance, though we have done that in the past. Instead, we usually purchase a smaller amount; 5% to 40% of your expected inheritance. When the estate is probated, we get that portion of the estate along with any applicable fees.

For most people, your expected inheritance will be much greater than the amount you would want to get in advance. Keep in mind that you pay fees to have us purchase a portion of your inheritance. You do not want to get a larger advance than you need, because you want to preserve as much of your inheritance as possible. We know this, and we work with you to help you figure out how much of an advance you need to give yourself opportunities before the probate process is complete.