Planning for Your Digital Legacy
An estate plan often focuses on tangible property such as jewelry, artwork, money, and vehicles. However, in this age of technology, it is important to remember to include your digital assets. Digital assets consist of everything we own online. Because we spend more time on computers and smartphones than we ever did before, you may not realize how much digital stuff you own, from photos and videos to online accounts, cryptocurrency, and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Why Is It Important to Plan for Digital Assets? Planning for digital assets is important for several reasons. First, without a plan, digital assets may get lost in the Internet ether and not pass to your loved ones after your death due to the simple fact that their existence is unknown. Second, planning now means your family will not have to worry about hunting for these items upon your death while also grieving a beloved family member. Third, like most adults (roughly 70 percent of them), you want certain aspects of your digital life to remain private. If you do not create a plan, your loved ones may learn things that you wish to keep secret. Finally, planning now can minimize the risk of
Read More
Lady Bird Deeds vs Transfer on Death Deed
In Texas, the default for real property – i.e. land and everything attached to that land—is to wind up in the homeowner’s probate estate. What this means is that when the homeowner dies, their real estate is subject to the probate process in order to transfer title. What many people don’t realize, however, is that real estate can avoid probate with proper planning. The three best ways to accomplish avoiding probate for real property are: (1) Transfer property into a Trust; (2) Transfer on Death Deed; and (3) Lady Bird Deed. For more information on Trusts, click here. For the purpose of this post, we are going to focus on options 2 and 3, the Transfer on Death Deed and the Lady Bird Deed. Transfer on Death Deeds A Transfer on Death Deed (“TODD”) is a statutory mechanism to designate who will own real property after you die. With a TODD you get to keep all ownership rights to the property during your lifetime so that you can sell it or use it as collateral on a loan. Even after filing a TODD, it is a revocable document so you can alter the beneficiaries or revoke the TODD altogether.
Read More