The Cisco Shuffle. Or, Why I Called the Secretary of State

FILE UNDER: QUICK TIP

Why yes, I was grooving out to this hold music. So why is an estate planner/probater on hold with the Secretary of State's office? Well, it all started when I needed to do a UCC search. For the lawyers out there, you might be wondering why I'd be doing that since I don't do debtor/creditor law (for the non-lawyers out there, I don't help/fight the repo man).

However, there's a good reason why I'd need to be on there when it comes to dealing with an estate. It's pretty common for an estate to auction off the deceased's personal property. Running a UCC search for liens (which are like mortgages, but instead of a bank securing their loan through real estate, a creditor secures its loans through personal property), can help you, the auctioneer and the personal representative know that the items sold are clear of liens, which can crop up especially if the deceased owned a business.

Also, the Secretary of State's office was super helpful and quick with the answer. Which was great (not great if you have a strange addition to the Cisco Shuffle, but I don't).

(photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/networkosaka/3031707049/in/photolist-4bD4Jf-5BUhTc-5DKSZ9-5Do3Q7-5DnJbQ-561Mn9-4tVuoJ-eToYdm-5AmZS-9AuJXJ-5ZGES-8gkV-bzFfHj-bycSWH-6UYUKx-6zP9yt-6Vj6tu-5MYteW-55WAtz-AM7EY-b5q3SH-6WKLZN-dCv4Ti-7vbeN6-dCv5ik-5H2Xxk-5VQ2c9-67i6Up-8emwqX-6oYvX2-86atHS-6aA7rh-6vJLxT-aBHgfY-eToVJj-fHXwvE-8vAvNd-eP2XAt-cUgzsE-5svbGT-6fSRTP-aR8Fve-iecrw-dCAuES-6fSRFB-cUgAcQ-8T3zcQ-eg5Jc3-aB3A3G-6oYvJH
Thanks _Untitled-1 for allowing creative commons 2.0 use of your pic!)