17 May
Your Texas home may be your most valuable asset. Therefore, it’s important that you include it in your estate plan to ensure that it can stay in the family if anything happens to you. Of course, there is also a chance that your children or grandchildren would rather sell the home and use the proceeds from the sale for other purposes.
Do whatever you want
An estate plan is essentially a set of instructions that your surviving family members are expected to adhere to. Therefore, if you want to keep the house in the family, don’t hesitate to include that as a condition of passing it to your child, grandchild or another beneficiary. However, it is important to consider what beneficiaries might want or need when deciding how assets should be managed or allocated on your behalf.
Talk to your beneficiaries
To learn more about what your beneficiaries may want or need, don’t hesitate to have regular estate planning conversations with them. These may reveal that no one in your family can afford the costs associated with your property or has the desire to maintain it properly. You may also discover that no one in your family has the ability or desire to relocate. Ultimately, you may find that your only choice is to sell the house now or ask that it be sold after you pass.
Get paperwork in order
Ideally, your executor or trustee will know where the deed to the home is. This person should also know where to locate maintenance, inspection and other records that a buyer might want to see before buying your property.
Including your home as part of a will or trust may make it easier to ensure that it is taken care of promptly after you pass. The quick settlement of your estate minimizes the risk of conflict between your heirs.