Stephens County, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

I bills are just in his name you only need to pay the amount that he has assets in his name. In other words, if he has a car just in his name you may need to sell to pay his bills. Unless you sign as personally liable for the bills.

In Texas there is a simple form of probate where the will is admitted as a Muniment of Title only. If that was the form of probate, then the order proving up the will is sufficient to transfer title to the beneficiaries - there is no other document necessary. If there was an administration where an executor was appointed, it was that executor's duty to transfer the house into the beneficiaries name(s) by recording a deed of some kind. If this was not done, you may need to contact an attorney to get the court to order the administrator to do his job.

A will is only effective after the death of the creator (testator). A will requires opening a probate and appointing an executor to execute the terms of the will under the supervision of a court. There are extra expenses with a will resulting from opening a probate. An advantage of probate is that it cuts off claims against the estate at 6 months after opening the probate. A living (grantor) trust goes into effect while the creator (grantor) is alive. Assets are placed into the trust when created and can be dealt with by the grantor while alive. The living trust is fully amendable and revocable by the grantor. Successor trustees are named and thus upon the death or incapacity of the grantor the named successor trustee is able to act and deal with the trust estate without having to go to court. A successor trustee's ability to step in for the grantor could help avoid the necessity of a guardianship in the event of a loss of capacity. Creation and amendment of a living trust is not as formal as creation of or changing a will.