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My mother in law is 82. All she has is her house, paid off. No car, just a checking account. Simple enough that I’m thinking an online will service would be enough. She has two children but my wife will be 100% the beneficiary of her entire estate.

Anyone have suggestions as to which will service is best?





P

In Oregon you can do, transfer on death. And avoid all courts. 500 to a lawyer may be worth ever cent. I have no experience with online wills. I do know a couple friends that did them. They haven’t tested them yet.

In MO we have what is called a Beneficiary Deed, upon owner’s death the real estate is automatically transferred to the Beneficiary. We have a Transfer on Death for car titles and if your Wife would be a Beneficiary or better yet joint on her bank account that would about do it.

It’s on the forefront of my mind today as I am off to go to my Mother in Law’s visitation this evening and burial tomorrow

Best of Luck

KC

A small item on bank accounts. Always list a secondary account holder, "with right of Survivorship." Otherwise the account gets frozen upon death.
Next, by federal law all propert owner changes must be executed 60 months before demise or federal estate taxes apply. Thank to the IRS.

So a life estate is created by transfer of deed prior to and taxes plus all repairs, etc., are paid by the owner/parent, then upon demise the property ownership is not transferred, it was transfered long before, they also call this a blue bird transfer deed.
The state tax and federal tax folks require death certificates for a reason and it is not to check the reason for a death, that is only a by product of the point of tax collecting.
A family trust today has mulpitle uses.

Disinheriting a child seems like a reason to get some good advice from a non internet source.

Simple answer: Ask a lawyer in her state of residence. Small price to pay where a paid off house is at stake. Better question: What did the other sibling do to get completely cut out of the will? That would be a much better thread!

Get her to fill out a Beneficiary Deed for the house. Get her to make sure her checking account is set up to transfer on death. Thereby you’ve taken BOTH of those things completely out of the hands of the probate court, so there’s no need to even mention the house or the checking account in the will.

By doing the above, the only thing that will be in her probate estate is the stuff in the house. And the stuff in the house is the only thing that even needs to be mentioned in the will. In the will, she can say she wants the belongings in the house to go to whoever.

Simple enough. And you don’t need a lawyer to do any of it.

Any $ saved avoiding an attorney will will quickly eclipsed by the cost of a contest that would predictably result.
Several different tools to avoid probate and will challenges that could be used. Very dependent on specific states law.
Drafting wills is the cheap part for Attorney’s.

It’s the “get her to do x” that is going to cost you more in the end...

Do a transfer on death deed to the home, put your wife on any and all checking accounts. Sell anything with a title to your wife now. My Dad passed in 2022, he did a fairly good job of avoiding estate taxes for us, but my sister and i still shelled out nearly $50k. Make sure wife has all the power of attorneys paperwork for financial and medical in place now.

Mother in law’s checking account is joint with both me and my wife.

The other sibling agrees that his sister be in control. It’s not disinheritance, it’s stewardship. He’ll be taken care of.

So a will isn’t necessary, but transfer upon death for the house would do it?

A will is only necessary for the things that have to be a part of her probate estate. A Beneficiary Deed is basically a Transfer on Death for the house, and takes it completely out of the hands of the probate court. Again, you do not need a lawyer to do this.

Hope that is the case for y'all.

Money does odd things to people, my brothers and I are seeing it firsthand with our moms husband.

Her will was clearly laid out and they both had agreement that her stuff was hers and his was his[they both had grown & gone children when they married].
She housed him for 39 years, which helped facilitate him to buy and sell properties at as he wished since he only needed to help with regular living expenses.
At her death last year he was worth at least double what she was but has since decided he wants a piece of her estate.

Money does odd things to people.

This^^^^

The probate court doesn’t even have to honor a will. They can override a will if they choose to. Best to take as much as possible completely out of the hands of the probate court.

I’ve seen it too many times Pharm….. people die and cousins, nephews, old neighbors come out of the woodwork claiming the old lady promised me whatever….. 500-1000 to a lawyer now is totally worth the headaches later imho.

Not all states do a transfer upon death. I'm in Pa and they don't do it.

I appreciate the warning.

He had a stroke a couple of years ago. He’s on SS Disability and we help him out. He knows which side his bread is buttered on.




P

Found it.

https://eforms.com/deeds/or/transfer-on-death/#:~:text=An%20Oregon%20transfer%20on%20death,be%20drawn%20out%20and%20costly.

I'd hire a good lawyer.

I'd recommend transferring ownership of the house now with a living estate for your Mother inlaw to stay in it.

And use a lawyer. They aren't all that expensive. I just had a new will, power of attorney and medical proxy all done for $300.