Texas Estates Code 114.101 – Effect of Transfer On Death Deed During Transferor’s Life
Terms Used In Texas Estates Code 114.101
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Claims: includes :
(1) liabilities of a decedent that survive the decedent's death, including taxes, regardless of whether the liabilities arise in contract or tort or otherwise;
(2) funeral expenses;
(3) the expense of a tombstone;
(4) expenses of administration;
(5) estate and inheritance taxes; and
(6) debts due such estates. See Texas Estates Code 22.005 - Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Estate: means a decedent's property, as that property:
(1) exists originally and as the property changes in form by sale, reinvestment, or otherwise;
(2) is augmented by any accretions and other additions to the property, including any property to be distributed to the decedent's representative by the trustee of a trust that terminates on the decedent's death, and substitutions for the property; and
(3) is diminished by any decreases in or distributions from the property. See Texas Estates Code 22.012 - Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Real property: includes estates and interests in land, whether corporeal or incorporeal or legal or equitable. See Texas Estates Code 22.030
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
During a transferor’s life, a transfer on death deed does not:
(1) affect an interest or right of the transferor or any other owner, including:
(A) the right to transfer or encumber the real property that is the subject of the deed;
(B) homestead rights in the real property, if applicable; and
(C) ad valorem tax exemptions, including exemptions for residence homestead, persons 65 years of age or older, persons with disabilities, and veterans;
(2) affect an interest or right of a transferee of the real property that is the subject of the deed, even if the transferee has actual or constructive notice of the deed;
(3) affect an interest or right of a secured or unsecured creditor or future creditor of the transferor, even if the creditor has actual or constructive notice of the deed;
(4) affect the transferor’s or designated beneficiary‘s eligibility for any form of public assistance, subject to applicable federal law;
(5) constitute a transfer triggering a “due on sale” or similar clause;
(6) invoke statutory real estate notice or disclosure requirements;
(7) create a legal or equitable interest in favor of the designated beneficiary; or
(8) subject the real property to claims or process of a creditor of the designated beneficiary.