You should speak with a property or an estate planning attorney to help you understand your legal rights and to make sure your written agreement complies with the state’s statutory requirements. It is generally insufficient to create a deed that states your intent to hold property with your spouse with a right of survivorship. Instead, your attorney will most likely draft a separate agreement stating such and file it in the appropriate county clerk or recorder’s office. You should also be aware … [Read more...]
Community Property and Estate Planning in Texas: Part 2 of 3
Marital property ownership rights are important for estate planning purposes. In most community property states, communal owners each own half of their property and as such, they may freely dispose of their rights as they wish while they are alive or at death. At one spouse’s death, a community property owner may not have an automatic right of survivorship to the remaining property. However, in Texas, the Texas Legislature recognized the need for flexibility for planning purposes between … [Read more...]
Community Property and Estate Planning in Texas: Part 1 of 3
Typically, unless you are going through or have gone through a divorce, you probably haven’t given much thought to the term “community property” or “equitable property.” If you are thinking about estate planning, you should understand what “community property” and “equitable property” really mean. Most states follow the common law regime of equitable property during divorce and for estate planning purposes. However, like a handful of other states, Texas is a minority community property … [Read more...]
Drawbacks of Dying Intestate or Without a Will: Part 2 of 3
As previously discussed, a major disadvantage to dying intestate is the lack of control you have as to who will inherit your property. If you wanted to leave a large portion of your estate to a special nephew, you must do so by will. If you do not create a will, your nephew only receives his intestate share of your property, as established by the Texas Probate Code. If you die with a surviving spouse and children, they will receive most of your property, and your nephew may not receive anything. … [Read more...]
Estate Planning to Reflect Your Values
Estate planning not only distributes your property and eases the burden of your passing on your loved ones, but it can also pass along your value system to your beneficiaries as well. How? Not only can you leave a legacy of your actions, since those certainly speak louder than words, but you can incorporate those values in your estate plan itself. There are estate planning tools that can be used to pass on your values. Many of these methods involve creating a trust, which allows you more … [Read more...]
DIY Estate Planning Mistakes
If you choose to go it alone in estate planning, you run the risk of making at least one of these estate-planning mistakes: Naming your estate as a beneficiary When it comes to life insurance, qualified retirement plans and annuities, you can name one or more persons to be the recipients of the death benefit. That way you can bypass estate administration and probate court. But many people name their estate as a beneficiary, perhaps thinking that they will sort it all out later and then change … [Read more...]
Estate Planning and the Rights of Survivorship
A common phrase used in estate planning is the ‘rights of survivorship,’ particularly when it comes to owning real estate. But do you know what this phrase actually means in plain English? The ‘rights of survivorship’ is the ownership of property by two or more people in which the survivors automatically gain ownership of another’s interest upon their death. In the case of more than one survivor, the decendent's share is divided among the survivors. For example – Harry and Sally are married … [Read more...]
