Beneficiary Deed Problems Described

A recent Wall Street Journal article reminded us about beneficiary deed problems.

The article pointed out a number of concerns about the growing use of beneficiary deeds as part of estate planning. Actually, beneficiary deeds are too often used instead of thoughtful estate planning.

What are the beneficiary deed problems we see? In addition to the ones mentioned in the WSJ article (like loss of property insurance on death of the owner), we have seen some of these:

1. Family disharmony can be exacerbated. Would you recommend all of your children creating a partnership with no managing partner? We wouldn’t, either.
2. The relationship between beneficiary deeds and living trusts confuses many lay people. That relationship is not obvious, and we see people creating ineffective beneficiary deeds for property already titled to their living trust.
3. Some beneficiary deed problems arise after later events — like the death of a beneficiary, or marriage or divorce.
4. Beneficiary deeds are not a suitable mechanism for imposing limitations like
   1. keeping property out of an in-law’s name, or
   2. avoiding public benefits problems), or
   3. creating a life estate that ends when the beneficiary moves out of the house.

Those kinds of specialized problems usually call for a trust rather than a beneficiary deed.

All of which is not to say we don’t like or use beneficiary deeds. We just want to help you use them correctly when they are an appropriate choice.