Lady birds and autopsies
Thanks to this macabre but helpful little project of mine, I’ve started receiving emails from total strangers around the world. The UK! Australia! Italy! And the United States, of course, where most of the advice here is relevant.
A few weeks ago I received an email with the subject line Lady Bird. Why was someone emailing me about Greta Gerwig’s 2017 indie film masterpiece?
Turns out they weren’t referring to the movie, but rather to Lady Bird Deeds—which I had never heard of, but I’m glad they brought the concept to my attention.
Lady Bird Deeds are a type of property deed that allows you to transfer the property directly to a beneficiary upon your death without going through probate court. They’re only available in 5 states: Florida, Texas, Michigan, Vermont, and West Virginia. If you live in one of those states, you should check if your parents have one—it could make your life a lot easier one day.
Those of us who live in other states aren’t totally out of luck. There are also:
Quitclaim deeds - these allow for simple transfer of a property between family members
Living trusts - if your parents have put their property in a living trust, and you’re the successor trustee, you don’t need to go through probate to sell it
There will be more on all this in the forthcoming “My parents are dead and now I have to understand real estate” section of the site, which I’m still writing.
A few other recent updates to the site:
Someone emailed me to ask about autopsies! Neither of my parents needed one, but I’ve added some info about that in case you’d like to request one for your parents.
Several folks have suggested I add Chanel Reynolds’ Get Your Shit Together website to the Resources page. Your wish is my command.