Celebs back down from pledging to leave the U.S. because of Trump

Many celebrities vowed to flee the country if Donald Trump was elected, but none of them have started to pack their bags yet.

Q. Have any of those big-time celebrities who said that they would sell their homes and leave the U.S. if Donald Trump were elected president actually done so? I hope they have!

A. Sorry to disappoint you, but none of the 20 or so actors, singers and other entertainers who promised to leave the United States - the country that made them rich and famous - if Trump won the election have put their homes up for sale or started packing their bags.

Those celebs range from talk-show host Whoopi Goldberg to singer Miley Cyrus and even Larry Flynt, who publishes the sexually explicit Hustler Magazine. Comedienne Amy Schumer, who said a few months ago that she would have to learn Spanish because "I will move to Spain or somewhere else" if Trump were elected, recanted her pledge the day after his nomination.

And then there's mega-entertainer Cher, who famously said in a tweet last year that if Trump were elected, "I'm moving to Jupiter."

As of today, no spaceship has arrived to cart off Cher's stuff from any of her swanky homes on Earth to the so-called Gas Giant - a nickname, because Jupiter is made almost entirely of gases, not dirt and water.

Forbes magazine notes that Cher's various Earth-locked real estate holdings account for a sizable chunk of her estimated net worth of about $320 million. It's impossible, though, to say how much that amount would translate into on Jupiter: Neither the U.S. nor the United Nations has established currency-exchange rules for whatever space aliens use to conduct commerce.

Real estate trivia: The Outer Space Treaty, approved by virtually all of the world's nations in 1967, declares that space is free for all countries to explore and that "sovereign claims cannot be made." So, no one country or individual can say that it "owns" a piece of the moon or any other celestial body.

Q. Is damage caused by a sewer backup covered by a basic homeowners insurance policy?

A. No. A typical policy, known as an "HO-3," doesn't cover damage caused by a sewer backup. Ditto for damage caused when a sump pump can't handle runoff water from a major downpour.

A separate flood-insurance policy won't cover such incidents, either. Most insurers, though, offer to provide protection against sewer backups for a relatively modest fee - usually about $50 or so a year, a spokesperson for the nonprofit Insurance Information Institute (www.iii.org) said.

Q. The bank that gave us our mortgage three years ago is now in negotiations to be purchased by a larger bank. If the sale goes through, would the new bank be able to automatically raise the interest rate or make other changes to our current loan terms?

A. No. Federal law would prevent the new bank from hiking your interest rate or making any other substantial changes to the terms of your existing mortgage, provided you are up to date on your payments. The bank would have the legal power to change the mailing address of your future payments, but that's about it.

Q. You recently wrote about a neighborhood in Canada where Mulder Avenue intersects with Scully Way, a tribute to the main characters on TV's "The X-Files." But I can do you one better: I grew up in West Chester, Ohio, near the corner of Grinn Drive and Barrett Road!

A. Thanks for bringing a grin to my face.

Another reader in Harahan, Louisiana, sent me a picture showing the very tricky local intersection in which Hickory and Dickory avenues run into Dock Street. Yet another nominated her personal favorite: The spot where Ho Road crosses Hum Road in the appropriately named town of Carefree, Arizona.

Q. I would like to create the type of living trust that you recently wrote about so my heirs can inherit my home and other property quickly after I pass away, instead of having to spend a lot of money and time to go through the probate court. But I read a story on the internet that said someone cannot create a living trust without first forming a 501(c) nonprofit corporation. Is this true?

A. No, it's not true. You either misunderstood what that internet article said, or the so-called journalists who wrote it should look for another line of work.

Any individual can form an inexpensive, money-saving living trust to spare their heirs from the costly and time-consuming probate process that's required when someone dies with only a traditional will. Forming a nonprofit corporation isn't required.

• For the booklet "Straight Talk About Living Trusts," send $4 and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to David Myers/Trust, P.O. Box 4405, Culver City, CA 90231-4405. Net proceeds will be sent to the American Red Cross.

© 2016, Cowles Syndicate Inc.