Our next free Estate Planning Essentials Workshop will again be live. Registration for our next live workshop (which will be Thursday, August 18, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. until noon) can be made by calling us at (214) 720-0102 or signing up online at www.dallaselderlawyer.com.

Attendees often ask questions about estate planning, probate, Medicaid and Veterans benefits. We proceed to answer the questions over the course of the workshop (although there will be a presentation also).

We have added a link to our website www.dallaselderlawyer.com from the Veterans Administration allowing you to ask questions about VA services and benefits.

Transfer on Death Deeds (TODDs) are a simple tool to pass real estate after your death to avoid probate or an heirship determination. You can change your mind and cancel the deed. You can even name contingent beneficiaries. TODDs have no adverse tax consequences, do not trigger a due-on-sale clause in a mortgage or deed of trust (where a lender can call a note if there is a transfer of property without the lender’s consent) and even (in Texas) avoid a successful claim by the state against a homestead for Medicaid estate recovery for Medicaid benefits advanced (i.e., nursing home and drug costs, etc.). 

Prior to the passage of the SECURE ACT, trusts named as a beneficiary of a retirement account could be prepared to stretch distributions (for tax-deferred growth) over the lifetime of the designated beneficiary. However, unless the beneficiary is either (1) a spouse; (2) someone less than 10 years younger than the retirement account owner; (3) a child of the retirement account owner who is under the age of majority; (4) disabled; or (5) chronically ill, then the beneficiary must distribute the retirement account within 10 years after the death of the retirement account owner.

In drafting a will or a trust or in making a beneficiary designation, one of the most common questions that should be asked is “who would be entitled the share of my estate if a beneficiary predeceases me?” When you do not want to name an individual or individuals or a charity or a religious institution as a contingent beneficiary in the event a named beneficiary predeceases you, then it is common to use the legal term “per stirpes” or “per capita” to describe the testator’s (the one who establishes a last will and testament) or trustor’s (the one who establishes a trust) intent to how assets are divided or distributed.