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Hello legal eagles,
I have a question about TX probate of a will.
My elderly Father lives in TX, and his will states that all his assets
at the time of his death are to be equally divided between my Brother
and myself.
His only assets will be his house(which he owns outright-no mortgage),
and a very small amount of cash($2000 or so).
My question is, is there a way to legally do anything to avoid having
the will go through the probate court? I am my Father's legal guardian
now as well(he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and is mentally
incompetent).
His total estate will be valued at about $85,000.
I am just trying to avoid any lengthy court procedures if I possibly
can when the tine will soon come. Any and all advice would be greatly
appreciated.
Private emails always welcome.
William
wprien@yahoo.com
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wprien@yahoo.com (William Prien) wrote in message news:<5ad47acc.0312131137.31e42f72@posting.google.com>...
Hello legal eagles,
I have a question about TX probate of a will.
My elderly Father lives in TX, and his will states that all his assets
at the time of his death are to be equally divided between my Brother
and myself.
His only assets will be his house(which he owns outright-no mortgage),
and a very small amount of cash($2000 or so).
My question is, is there a way to legally do anything to avoid having
the will go through the probate court? I am my Father's legal guardian
now as well(he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and is mentally
incompetent).
His total estate will be valued at about $85,000.
I am just trying to avoid any lengthy court procedures if I possibly
can when the tine will soon come. Any and all advice would be greatly
appreciated.
Private emails always welcome.
William
Texas has a simplified probate for small estates called "independent
administration", which you should look up. You should get a Texas
attorney to advise you, because his will needs to contain language
that enables this. If his will needs to be modified and he's already
incompetent, you really, really need a Texas attorney to do this in a
way that the probate court will accept.
--
Not a lawyer,
Chris Green
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On 13 Dec 2003 11:37:22 -0800, wprien@yahoo.com (William Prien) wrote:
Hello legal eagles,
I have a question about TX probate of a will.
My elderly Father lives in TX, and his will states that all his assets
at the time of his death are to be equally divided between my Brother
and myself.
His only assets will be his house(which he owns outright-no mortgage),
and a very small amount of cash($2000 or so).
My question is, is there a way to legally do anything to avoid having
the will go through the probate court? I am my Father's legal guardian
now as well(he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and is mentally
incompetent).
His total estate will be valued at about $85,000.
I am just trying to avoid any lengthy court procedures if I possibly
can when the tine will soon come. Any and all advice would be greatly
appreciated.
Private emails always welcome.
William
wprien@yahoo.com
Probate is cheap in Texas compared to other states. You can be the
executor, if so named, and the only legal fees you have to pay are for
a few hours of the attorney's time to make the appropriate filings.
It's not like California, where I understand attorneys can, and
frequently do, eat up major portions of the estate.
When my granddad died last year, total probate costs were under $2000
on a $400K estate.
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My question is, is there a way to legally do anything to avoid having
the will go through the probate court? I am my Father's legal guardian
now as well(he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and is mentally
incompetent).
Only if your durable POA specifically allows you to write a will for your
father, and if that provision is allowed under TX law.
Otherwise, if your POA so allows, you can start a gifting program and give
away (or put in trust perhaps) all his free assets. You might even be able
to transfer the house to a trust, although that could disqualify it for
homestead purposes. What you don't want to do (if it has appreciated) is
lose the step-up in basis at death.
In some other states (NY for example) real estate doesn't normally go
through probate. In most it does and except for what I said above, you can't
escape it.
This is definitely not DIY stuff. Get a lawyer, and haggle with him/her on
the price if you must. A mistake can cost you plenty later on. Lots of
people who bought Norman F. Dicey's book "How To Avoid Probate!" wound up
costing their heirs a fortune in taxes and legal expenses later.
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Thanks for everyone's advice.
I have an attorney in TX who will be handling everything.He has
already said that I(as my Father's legal guardian)am not allowed to
make any changes in his will. I was just wondering if I could do
anything with the title of the house to avoid probate? There will be
virtually no other assets to deal with.
William
wprien@yahoo.com
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On 13 Dec 2003 11:37:22 -0800, wprien@yahoo.com (William Prien) wrote:
Hello legal eagles,
I have a question about TX probate of a will.
My elderly Father lives in TX, and his will states that all his assets
at the time of his death are to be equally divided between my Brother
and myself.
His only assets will be his house(which he owns outright-no mortgage),
and a very small amount of cash($2000 or so).
My question is, is there a way to legally do anything to avoid having
the will go through the probate court? I am my Father's legal guardian
now as well(he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and is mentally
incompetent).
His total estate will be valued at about $85,000.
I am just trying to avoid any lengthy court procedures if I possibly
can when the tine will soon come. Any and all advice would be greatly
appreciated.
Private emails always welcome.
William
wprien@yahoo.com
Ask your attorney about Muniment of Title.
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