Just Bought Your First Home in Texas? Here Are 3 Estate Planning Steps to Take Now

Buying your first home is one of the most significant financial decisions of your life. It's also one of the most significant estate planning triggers — and most first-time buyers don't realize it until much later.

The moment you sign the closing documents, you own a substantial asset. Without an estate plan, the question of what happens to that asset if something happens to you is answered entirely by state law — not by you.

Here are three steps to take right away:

Step 1: Write or update your will. Your will is the primary document that directs who receives your home after your death. If you're unmarried and die without a will in Texas, your home passes to your legal heirs under intestacy law — which may not be your partner, your roommate, or the person you actually want to inherit it.

Step 2: Consider a Lady Bird Deed. Texas allows a unique type of deed called an Enhanced Life Estate Deed (commonly called a Lady Bird Deed) that lets you name a beneficiary who receives the property at your death — automatically, without probate. You retain full control during your lifetime. You can sell, refinance, or revoke it at any time. But when you die, the transfer happens cleanly and privately.

Step 3: Execute a durable power of attorney. If you're incapacitated and unable to make decisions, someone needs the legal authority to manage your mortgage, handle insurance, and make financial decisions related to your home. Without a durable power of attorney, no one — including a spouse or parent — automatically has that authority.

You just made the biggest purchase of your life. Take two more steps to protect it.

📌 New homeowners in Texas have great tools available to protect their property. Let's get your estate plan up to speed with your new asset. Contact us today.