Estate Planning

[buggered01]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

Father is deceased. Has 4 Children
Mother is alive. Has 3 children
Together they have 2 for a total of nine children.
House is not paid off till 2010.

Mother wishes to leave the house to one child. How does she do this???

 

[divgradcurl]

Write a wil leaving the house to the one child. Or, better yet, see an estate planning professional.

 

[nextwife]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

Father is deceased. Has 4 Children
Mother is alive. Has 3 children
Together they have 2 for a total of nine children.
House is not paid off till 2010.

Mother wishes to leave the house to one child. How does she do this???

First things first:

How is the real estate titled? Exactly?

 

[Texas Pooh]

How was the house acquired, and when? In other words, did Mom and Dad acquire the house together, after marriage, or did one of them buy it before the marriage?

Has father's estate been probated and was Mother the sole heir?

 

[Dandy Don]

She needs to be consulting with a probate attorney to see if what she wants to do is feasible and lawful or not. It's not hers to give a way until the mortgage is fully paid off.
And is she prepared to give a specific reason in her will as to why she is disinheriting the other kids? Gee whiz.

 

[anteater]

...It's not hers to give a way until the mortgage is fully paid off..

Of course, she can. The mortgage holder simply still has a lien.

....And is she prepared to give a specific reason in her will as to why she is disinheriting the other kids? Gee whiz,

She doesn't have to give a specific reason.

Where do you come up with stuff?

 

[tranquility]

It's good practice to put disinherited children in a will and give a token amount or a reason why they don't get anything. It helps to prevent a challenge for forgetting the child.

 

[anteater]

It's good practice to put disinherited children in a will and give a token amount or a reason why they don't get anything. It helps to prevent a challenge for forgetting the child.

A statement that the testator has not forgotten or unintentionally overlooked anybody not specifically mentioned works just as well.

 

[nextwife]

I asked HOW it was titled for a REASON!


It may not be Moms to give away. Mortgage or not. How was title held when dad died? Did they own it (or did another deceased relative)? Did they own it as TIC or Jt Tenants? How was his share dealt with after he died? WAS it dealt with??

And, people inherit mortgaged properties all the time, so the ability to inherit is not inhibited by the existance of the mortgage. I WORK in the department at a bank that, in part, deals with this stuff. We, the bank, do not OWN the property. We only have a mortgage lien! We can call the lien due in accordance with any due on sale, but we are certainly not the owners.

 

[Texas Pooh]

... and lets not forget about the community property issues in Texas. We need to understand what happened when Dad died and if Mom even inherited the whole house.