By Lorie Burch, Owner & Founding Attorney of Burch Law
Hi, Lorie Burch here, your go to Wills & trusts attorney here with 3 common misconceptions when it comes to Wills and estate planning in Texas.
- First, that you will automatically inherit the house if your spouse dies. Wrong! In Texas it doesn’t work that way. You will need some type of legal planning, such as a Will, or trust, to ensure you will get the house. Also, if your spouse has children from another marriage, those kids will actually inherit your spouse’s part of the house. Yikes!
- Misconception number two: online Wills are better than nothing. No! They are often worse than nothing because at least people who don’t have Wills don’t have a false sense of security. I could go on and on about the dangers of online Wills and forms, but won’t…this time! But just know that a majority of the time they aren’t even signed correctly! And there is no “close” in Wills & probate! My grandpa used to say “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” He also used to say “cheap gets very expensive.” Both are so true when it comes to Wills. He was a clever guy.
- Finally, misconception number three: A Will avoids probate court. It does not! A Will isn’t a Will until a judge says it is. An executor isn’t an executor until a judge says they are. Now probate it’s always that bad – with a Will you are still cutting down on a lot of time and expense. But if you truly want to avoid any type of court process, you may want to consider other legal planning options.
SO if you want to avoid these planning, or lack of planning, mistakes, please contact us for a complementary consultation. So that you can have protection for your family and peace of mind for you, because if you don’t have a Will, the state of Texas has one for you!
