No shortcuts in transfer of property to family member
Q: I own a rental house in Houston free and clear. How would I go about giving this property to my daughter? Is there a simple form to complete, like when you transfer a car to someone else?
A: Unfortunately, there is no simple form to give away real estate.
The transfer to your daughter requires a gift deed, and you will almost certainly need to hire an attorney to prepare it.
After you sign the deed and have it notarized, it will need to be recorded in the Harris County deed records.
You don’t need a broker or a title company.
Q: We recently purchased a new home. Do we need to prepare new wills? Or can we prepare an addendum to show there has been a change of address? Everything in the old wills remains the same.
A: As long as you prepared your wills in Texas and you are still living in Texas, then there is no need to update your wills.
In fact, it is extremely rare for a will to include a recitation of your home address. Many wills do recite what county you were living in when it was signed, but there is no need to change the reference if you move to a different county.
At the end of your wills, there are most likely places where the witnesses signed and provided their addresses. Those addresses don’t need to change either.
Typically, when a person hires a lawyer to prepare a new will, that lawyer will prepare a durable power of attorney at the same time. The power of attorney form most likely recites your address.
However, you don’t need to update it unless you also want to change the people you are appointing as your agents.
Q: My husband and I set up a revocable trust in 2000. Everything we own is listed in the trust, including cars and our home. We have a son and a daughter. Our son is to be trustee of the trust upon our deaths. Will he be able to sell the trust properties and divide the proceeds between the two of them without hiring an attorney? Also, could we have the two of them as co-trustees of the trust?
A: There is no requirement that your son hire an attorney. He can certainly try to fulfill his duties as trustee on his own, without legal advice.
Whether he will be able to finish the job on his own depends on many factors, including the values and variety of the investments you own and your son’s ability to understand the trust and his responsibilities.
Yes, your children can serve as co-trustees.
The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law, not legal advice. Readers with legal problems, including those whose questions are addressed here, should consult attorneys for advice on their particular circumstances.
Ronald Lipman of the Houston law firm Lipman & Associates is board-certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Email questions to stateyourcase@lipmanpc.com.