Q: My first wife passed in 2009. We have real estate with both names recorded with Ellis county.
I never recorded the death certificate of the decedent with Ellis county clerk; do I need to do that? I have since remarried, deceased wife’s name is still on the property deeds and needs to be changed to second wife’s name as joint owner, what documentation is needed to do that? I would like to draw up a “transfer on death deed” to eliminate probate issues for my wife and two sons, is that too precarious an issue to execute without legal assistance? My wife and I both have “notarized hand written wills” that we are going to update; we never recorded them with the county clerk’s office. Is it really necessary for an estate under $500K to file hand written wills with the county? We are both retired in our mid-sixties and have no debts.
A:
I strongly suggest you speak to an estate planning/probate attorney as there are some steps needed in order to make the transfer you want valid. It is not the death certificate that gets recorded, there is other paperwork depending on circumstances that must be filed to establish title to the property.
I also suggest you have your documents drawn up with an attorney, hand-written wills usually leave a lot of details out that are necessary for the smooth transition of an estate. It's worth the time and money to make sure things are correct rather than leave them to chance especially since you are remarried.
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