Community News
Do You Need a Will? A s an Estate Planning Attorney, people often ask me “Do I really need a will?” My reply is “do you have children?” followed by “do you own a house?” and “do you like to save money?” If you have children under the age of 18 you need a will in order to name the person or persons you would like the courts to appoint as guardian of the children. Similarly, your will can name a Trustee to manage the money or assets your minor children inherit, or to receive the benefits of a life insurance policy. If you do not have a will, and thus no guardian or trustee is named, the Courts will appoint whomever they see fit or whomever applies to serve which may not be the persons you would name. If you have children over the age of 18, you do not need to appoint a guardian but you might still like to create a trust for a child. Not all children are equipped to manage money at the age of 18 and a Trust allows you to determine the age at which you think your child should take on that responsibility. There are benefits to the child as the beneficiary of a trust other than to manage assets. Children over the age of 18 and up to any age may benefit from a trust because the trust assets, as inherited property, are separate property. As separate property, the assets are protected in the event of a divorce. Often parents like the idea that their hard earned money will not wind up with a former spouse of their child. If you own a home, title to the home will need to be changed in the event of your death. If you have a will, you name an executor, the executor has the authority to change title to your home. If you are married and your home is titled in the names of both spouses, people 16
by Carol Willis Butrus
often erroneously believe title automatically passes to the surviving spouse. In November of 2015, Texas did enact a new measure which allows Deeds to contain survivorship provisions. If your Deed predates November 2015 it will not have the survivorship provision. A will is especially important if you have a Deed with joint ownership between spouses and this is a second marriage with children from previous marriage. With a will, you can state the house passes to the surviving spouse. Without a will, the surviving spouse will wind up with a house titled jointly with the deceased spouse’s children. Lastly, if you die with a will and a probate proceeding is required, the process should be simple - only one trip to the courthouse to appoint the named executor who is able to act without court supervision. If you die without a will and a probate proceeding is required, the process becomes complicated as the court will have to determine the heirs of your estate before appointing a representative. The representative may be required to obtain the court’s approval for all estate transactions. The determination of heirs requires an additional attorney to be appointed and a court supervised administration adds even more time and expense. The money spent on a properly drafted will is much less than the cost of a probate proceeding where there is no will. There are many reason to have a will in addition to the ones described above, but if you have kids, a house, or like to save money, you really do need a will. Carol Willis Butrus grew up in Canyon Creek and is a practicing Attorney. You can reach her at carol@cwb-law.com if you have more questions.
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