Build the closing checklist, including prorations and foreign-seller withholding
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the contract, list the proration items the contract names, the closing date, and whether any seller is marked as a foreign person. Compute no transfer tax. Prepare no deed.
- What the lawyer must review
- Prorations follow the signed contract and state custom. You check each figure. If a seller is a foreign person disposing of a United States real property interest, 26 U.S.C. § 1445(a) generally requires the transferee to withhold 15 percent of the amount realized, unless a statutory exception applies. The IRS withholding page states the same 15 percent rate for dispositions after 16 February 2016 and says the buyer is the withholding agent in most cases. A residence exception and a reduced rate are in § 1445. You decide whether one applies. Transfer taxes and recording fees are state and local.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Consider narrowly defined preparation support after confirming the tool’s capability and permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Trace every relied-on figure to its source, confirm dates and assumptions, and independently recalculate totals or derived amounts.
- Review operative clauses in the complete document, including definitions, cross-references, schedules and inconsistencies with the instructions.
- Verify the applicable jurisdiction and the version of each relevant law, rule or instrument in force at the material time.
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase-contract due diligence checklist (United States) | Checklist | AI use Yellow | A buyer-side list for a US purchase contract: title commitment, names and the legal description, pre-1978 lead disclosure, FIRPTA withholding, and loan disclosures if the purchase is financed. |
| FIRPTA withholding file note (United States) | Memo | AI use Yellow | An internal note of the IRS page's 15 percent withholding when a foreign person disposes of a U.S. real property interest, including joint owners, a grantor trust, and the residence discussion. |
| Title commitment and closing-document check (United States) | Checklist | AI use Yellow | A closing check that the deed, any mortgage, and the title commitment use the same parties and the same legal description as the purchase contract, with the FIRPTA figure carried from the file note. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.