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Episode 013 · theILMrealtor Podcast · ft. Cline Donaldson Law Firm · Part 3 of 3

You signed the papers. You got the keys. You moved in. You did it — you're a homeowner. But what happens next? That question is exactly where Jason and Scott from Cline Donaldson Law come in.

This is part three of our three-part series with the team over at Cline Donaldson, and if you haven't listened to parts one and two yet — go do that first. We covered everything from what to do before you buy to long-term estate planning. Today, we brought both worlds together. Real estate and estate planning, colliding in the most important ways — and yes, there were horror stories.

Buckle up, because this one is equal parts educational and absolutely wild.

The biggest mistake people make in real estate

I asked Jason and Scott this question expecting two very different answers. They actually surprised me. Jason's take? It starts with the people you work with. A wrong realtor steering you into the wrong house, a loan officer putting you in the wrong program, an attorney who drops the ball at closing — these are the things that can cost you thousands (or way more) down the road.

Scott's answer hit differently. He said the biggest mistake is simply not understanding the effect of not doing things. Not planning. Assuming things will just work out. Because — spoiler — they don't always.

If you're married and your name is the only one on the deed when you pass away — your spouse could end up co-owning that home with your mother-in-law. No plan = the state decides. And the state doesn't care about your relationships.

Should you buy a house with your boyfriend or girlfriend?

Jason's answer was refreshingly direct: he tries to steer people away from it. Not because love isn't real — but because the legal system is built for married couples. When you buy a home with a partner you're not married to, you're signing up for complexity that most people don't see coming.

If things go sideways and one person stops paying the mortgage, you can't just walk away. The legal process to force a sale — called a partition action — can take 8 to 12 months and cost a small fortune. And you're doing all of that paperwork while also dealing with a breakup. No thank you.

But here's what I loved about this conversation: Scott pointed out that it doesn't have to be doom and gloom. If you're not married and you're buying together, you can still plan. Trusts, LLCs, co-ownership agreements — there are structures that can protect you both. The key is doing it intentionally, with the right people, before something goes wrong.

The LLC trap the internet gurus won't tell you about

If you've spent any time on real estate TikTok or Instagram, you've seen it: "Put your property in an LLC to protect yourself!" And Jason hears it too — about once a week, someone calls asking him to deed their house into an LLC.

Here's what the gurus conveniently leave out: almost every mortgage has a due-on-sale clause. Transfer the property into an LLC without your mortgage company's consent, and they can legally call your entire loan due — immediately. As in, you now owe $400,000 right now.

How do they find out? You update your homeowners insurance to list the LLC as the insured. Your mortgage company is a named beneficiary on that policy. They get an automatic notification. That's it. That's how it unravels — and the insurance company is more than happy to deny a claim on a property that's no longer technically yours.

You can absolutely put property into an LLC — but you have to do it with your mortgage company's knowledge and consent. That's the step the 60-second video always skips.

Mortgage fraud is more common than you think

While we're on the topic of things that could land you in federal trouble: occupancy fraud is the most common form of mortgage fraud in the United States. It happens when someone declares a property as a primary residence to get better loan terms — lower rates, lower down payment — and then turns around and rents it out or uses it as an investment.

The FBI investigates this. It's federal. And while fraud requires intent, the line between "life changed my plans" and "I never planned to live there" matters enormously. Jason's advice: if you're thinking about doing it, now is the moment to stop. Before you sign anything.

Horror story: 42 heirs and counting

I asked for horror stories and they delivered. This one is genuinely one of the most wild real estate situations I've ever heard.

A woman passed away in Wilmington with no will, no estate plan, nothing. Her only heir — her son — had predeceased her. Her parents were gone. No siblings. No children. So the state went looking for heirs further up the family tree. Both sets of grandparents? Also gone. So the estate split down two lines — maternal and paternal — and started tracing every descendant.

On the paternal side, they traced back to a grandfather who died in 1962. He had seven children, all born in the 1930s. By the time you trace every branch of that family tree forward to today... they had found 42 heirs. And they still couldn't account for all of them.

A simple will — even one that left everything to a local charity — would have prevented the whole thing.

The fertile octogenarian (yes, this is a real legal concept)

I was not prepared for this one. I don't think anyone ever is.

In property law, there is a concept called the "fertile octogenarian." Legally speaking, no matter how old a person is — no matter the biological reality — the law considers them capable of having more children until they are deceased. This matters when deeds or wills create what's called an "open class" of beneficiaries.

Jason had a real case: a deed was drafted leaving property to a daughter, then to "her children." The daughter was 60 at the time. Her existing children were adults. One of them wanted to develop the property. But because the deed said "her children" without specifying "children now living," the class was still technically open — legally, she could still have kids. They couldn't close on the property until the daughter died. Not a typo.

The deed should have said "to her children now living." Four words. That's the difference between a clean title and a legal standstill that could last decades.

AI, voice cloning, and deed fraud

Scott spent time in law enforcement before becoming an attorney, and he helped build a deed fraud unit in New York City. So when he says this is getting scarier, I believe him.

With AI voice cloning, bad actors can capture five seconds of your voice and use it to impersonate you in a phone call — convincing your family members to sign off on a reverse mortgage or transfer a deed under false pretenses. This isn't science fiction. It's happening now.

The protection? Incapacity provisions in your estate plan. A properly structured trust with clear directives for who can act on your behalf — and under what circumstances — can be the guardrail that keeps your home safe even if someone tries to use your own voice against you.

Bottom line: what to take away from this episode

• Work with professionals you trust at every step — realtor, lender, attorney. The wrong ones can cost you six figures.

• An estate plan isn't just for wealthy people. It's for anyone who owns anything and wants to decide where it goes.

• Buying property unmarried? Plan for it intentionally. Partition actions are expensive, slow, and emotionally brutal.

• Don't put your home in an LLC without your mortgage company's consent. Your due-on-sale clause is real.

• Occupancy fraud is federal. Don't do it. Don't even think about it.

• Probate is a mess. A trust, properly funded, is almost always worth the upfront cost.

• Estate planning documents need to be precise. "Her children" and "her children now living" are legally very different sentences.

• AI voice cloning is a real threat to property owners. Incapacity provisions in your plan are becoming essential.

Why I keep coming back to Jason and Scott

We're now three episodes in with the team at Cline Donaldson and every single time, I walk away knowing things I genuinely didn't know before. And I think that's the whole point of what we're doing here at theILMrealtor — pulling back the curtain on the stuff that doesn't get talked about at dinner parties.

You know how to pick a neighborhood. You know how to make an offer. But do you know what happens to your home if you die without a will and your only heir predeceased you? Do you know that your spouse might not automatically inherit your property? Do you know that putting your house in an LLC could trigger your entire mortgage?

Now you do.

As always — I'm not an attorney and I can't give you legal advice. But I can point you in the right direction. If anything in this episode made you pause and think "wait, do I need to look into this?" — the answer is probably yes. Reach out to the team at Cline Donaldson Law. They're local, they're brilliant, and they're genuinely passionate about helping Wilmington families protect what they've worked for.

Connect with Cline Donaldson LawFour offices across coastal Carolina — Wilmington, Hampstead, and Shallotte.📧 info@clinelawnc.com · 📞 910-661-2012

I am not an attorney. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice. Please consult a licensed attorney for guidance specific to your situation.