A grandmother used a reverse mortgage to improve her retirement, and her heirs weren't burdened because the loan gets repaid from the home sale, like any other mortgage. Heirs should be part of these decisions from the start.
So a lot of times when I think about the heirs, I definitely feel they should be a part in the process. A lot of times they encourage it. My grandmother included was one of the first reverse mortgages that we did. We as a family got together and said, how can we help Grandma make ends meet? She's got all of this home equity. There's really no burden. If you love somebody and you want them to be happy and, you know, enjoy the rest of their retirement years, I think you'd want them to remain independent. Use some of the equity if that better enhances their retirement years. Why not? It's just a loan amount that you borrow. When you pass away, the loan is due and payable. If there was a mortgage on the property already, you would still be selling the house. That loan amount would be then repaid through the proceeds of the sale. It's the same concept with the reverse mortgage. So there really is no, no extra burden.
