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Planning Ahead: Part Four

Dunn & Hemphill, PA • December 1, 2020

Mississippi's New Transfer-on-Death Deed

So far in “Planning Ahead,” we have defined estate planning, last will and testaments, and durable powers of attorney. This week we talk about a way to transfer ownership of your “real property” (meaning your land and anything attached to it) to someone without the need for your will to be probated. Probate is the legal process of filing your will in court to prove it is your true last will and testament and to wind down your financial affairs. It is not a four-letter word, but it is an expense that most of our clients want to avoid.
Mississippi’s newest estate planning tool is called a Transfer-on-Death Deed (TODD), which became available on July 1, 2020. Using a TODD you (the “transferor”) can execute and record a deed now that will transfer your real property upon your death. During your lifetime, you retain all interests and rights in the property, including homestead rights and the right to otherwise transfer or even mortgage that land in any way you wish. Upon your death, the person to whom you deeded the property (the “beneficiary”) will become the owner of that property automatically without probate, but while you are living and competent you can revoke the TODD or file a new one.
In our next post, we will begin to look at “long-term care asset protection planning” and Medicaid qualification by discussing another useful deed: a deed with reservation of life estate. Many of our clients are desperately concerned about the high cost of skilled nursing care, which can be roughly $90,000 per year in our area, so this type of planning is highly important.

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