Minnesota Transfer on Death Deeds
Many people may find the idea of getting an estate plan together intimidating. Others may fear the cost of doing an estate plan will be too high. Many people may also think that they do not have that many assets, so why would they need an estate plan at all. Well if you find yourself in this place, there are still smaller steps that you can take to begin the estate plan process to help prepare your assets for when you pass, or at the very least, provide a plan for your most valuable asset of your home.
Transfer of a Home
The most common asset people own of significant value is their home. Most people have very specific ideas of how they want this asset to pass to their loved ones. While this has traditionally been done through a will or other estate planning tools, the Transfer on Death Deed allows a person to pass their home to someone upon their death without having to prepare a will on the matter. The Transfer on Death Deed provides many advantages over other estate planning tools. For one, a Transfer on Death Deed does not actually transfer any interest in your home during your life. So you can execute a Transfer on Death Deed for planning purposes, but if your life circumstances change, you are free to sell your house if you find yourself needing to do so. Unlike many of the other estate planning tools, this will not cause any issues of joint ownership or unforeseen tax consequences during your life. In addition, the Transfer on Death Deed is always revocable, which means if at any time you want to change who would receive your home, you can revoke your previous Transfer on Death Deed. The Transfer on Death Deed does not become effective until the homeowner passes away.
Avoiding Probate
Second, a Transfer on Death Deed can help your family avoid probate. When an estate has real property like your home in it, this may require the estate to proceed through probate. However, executing a Transfer on Death Deed for your home will take your home out of the estate and automatically transfer it through the TODD. Similar to life insurance, your home will then pass outside of the estate, and then the estate no longer has your real property home in it, which can help to avoid probate, depending on what other assets you own.
Wills and Trusts
Finally, as was noted at the beginning, the Transfer on Death Deed is a much shorter process that may not carry all the expense of engaging in a full estate plan. You can prepare for the transfer of your home without having to take on the whole process of estate planning, if you are not yet ready for that. The Transfer on Death Deed does have formal requirements that must be followed to be effective. Specifically, the Transfer on Death Deed must be recorded in the property records office in the County where your home is located.
So if you are not yet prepared to take on the estate planning process, you can start taking the first step in the process, as well as ensuring that your home will be transferred with your wishes upon your passing. If you have questions on the Transfer on Death Deed, or would like to get started today on this process, please contact our office.
Minnesota Estate Planning Lawyer
For more information on estate planning in Minnesota, along with a variety of other topics, contact Joseph M. Flanders of Flanders Law Firm, a Dakota County Minnesota probate lawyer, at (612) 424-0398.
