| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to authorizing a beneficiary designation that transfers a |
|
|
manufactured home classified as personal property at the owner's |
|
|
death. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 2, Estates Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Chapter 116 to read as follows: |
|
|
CHAPTER 116. BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION FOR CERTAIN MANUFACTURED |
|
|
HOMES |
|
|
Sec. 116.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: |
|
|
(1) "Beneficiary designation" means the designation |
|
|
by an owner of a manufactured home of a beneficiary of the home as |
|
|
provided by Section 1201.2135, Occupations Code. |
|
|
(2) "Designated beneficiary" means a person |
|
|
designated as a beneficiary of an owner's interest in a |
|
|
manufactured home under Section 1201.2135, Occupations Code. |
|
|
(3) "Joint owner with right of survivorship" or "joint |
|
|
owner" means a person who owns a manufactured home concurrently |
|
|
with one or more other persons with a right of survivorship. The |
|
|
term does not include an owner of community property with or without |
|
|
a right of survivorship. |
|
|
(4) "Manufactured home" has the meaning assigned by |
|
|
Section 1201.003, Occupations Code. |
|
|
(5) "Person" has the meaning assigned by Section |
|
|
311.005, Government Code. |
|
|
Sec. 116.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to |
|
|
a manufactured home classified as personal property under Section |
|
|
2.001, Property Code. |
|
|
Sec. 116.003. BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION AUTHORIZED. (a) An |
|
|
owner of a manufactured home may transfer the owner's interest in |
|
|
the home to a sole beneficiary effective on the owner's death by |
|
|
designating a beneficiary as provided by Section 1201.2135, |
|
|
Occupations Code. |
|
|
(b) A beneficiary designation is: |
|
|
(1) subject to Section 116.004(b), revocable and may |
|
|
be changed at any time without the consent of the designated |
|
|
beneficiary as provided by Section 1201.2135, Occupations Code; |
|
|
(2) a nontestamentary instrument; and |
|
|
(3) effective without: |
|
|
(A) notice or delivery to or acceptance by the |
|
|
designated beneficiary during the owner's life; or |
|
|
(B) consideration. |
|
|
(c) A will may not revoke or supersede a beneficiary |
|
|
designation, regardless of when the will is made. |
|
|
(d) A designated beneficiary may disclaim the designated |
|
|
beneficiary's interest in the manufactured home as provided by |
|
|
Chapter 240, Property Code. |
|
|
Sec. 116.004. JOINT OWNERSHIP. (a) If a manufactured home |
|
|
that is the subject of a beneficiary designation is owned by joint |
|
|
owners with right of survivorship, the beneficiary designation must |
|
|
be made by all of the joint owners. |
|
|
(b) A beneficiary designation made by joint owners with |
|
|
right of survivorship: |
|
|
(1) may be revoked or changed as provided by Section |
|
|
1201.2135, Occupations Code, only if it is revoked or changed by all |
|
|
of the joint owners; and |
|
|
(2) may be revoked or changed by the last surviving |
|
|
joint owner as provided by Section 1201.2135, Occupations Code. |
|
|
Sec. 116.005. EFFECT OF BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION DURING |
|
|
OWNER'S LIFE. During a manufactured home owner's life, a |
|
|
beneficiary designation does not: |
|
|
(1) affect an interest or right of the owner or owners |
|
|
making the designation, including the right to transfer or |
|
|
encumber the home that is the subject of the designation; |
|
|
(2) create a legal or equitable interest in favor of |
|
|
the designated beneficiary in the home that is the subject of the |
|
|
designation, even if the beneficiary has actual or constructive |
|
|
notice of the designation; |
|
|
(3) affect an interest or right of a secured or |
|
|
unsecured creditor or future creditor of the owner or owners making |
|
|
the designation, even if the creditor has actual or constructive |
|
|
notice of the designation; or |
|
|
(4) affect an owner's or the designated beneficiary's |
|
|
eligibility for any form of public assistance, subject to |
|
|
applicable federal law. |
|
|
Sec. 116.006. EFFECT OF BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION AT OWNER'S |
|
|
OR LAST SURVIVING OWNER'S DEATH. (a) On the death of the owner of a |
|
|
manufactured home that is the subject of a beneficiary designation, |
|
|
the following rules apply to an interest in the home: |
|
|
(1) if the designated beneficiary survives the owner |
|
|
making the designation by 120 hours, the interest in the home is |
|
|
transferred to the designated beneficiary; and |
|
|
(2) if the designated beneficiary fails to survive the |
|
|
owner making the designation by 120 hours, the share of the |
|
|
designated beneficiary lapses, notwithstanding Section 111.052, |
|
|
and is subject to and passes in accordance with Subchapter D, |
|
|
Chapter 255, as if the beneficiary designation were a devise made in |
|
|
a will. |
|
|
(b) If an owner is a joint owner with right of survivorship |
|
|
who is survived by one or more other joint owners, the manufactured |
|
|
home that is the subject of the beneficiary designation belongs to |
|
|
the surviving joint owner or owners. If an owner is a joint owner |
|
|
with right of survivorship who is the last surviving joint owner, |
|
|
the beneficiary designation is effective. |
|
|
(c) A designated beneficiary takes the manufactured home |
|
|
subject to all encumbrances, assignments, contracts, liens, and |
|
|
other interests to which the home is subject at the owner's or last |
|
|
surviving owner's death, as applicable. The transfer to the |
|
|
designated beneficiary does not affect the ability of a lienholder |
|
|
to pursue an existing means of debt collection permitted under the |
|
|
laws of this state. |
|
|
Sec. 116.007. CREDITOR CLAIMS; ALLOWANCES IN LIEU OF EXEMPT |
|
|
PROPERTY AND FAMILY ALLOWANCES. Sections 114.104(b), (c), and (d) |
|
|
and Section 114.106 apply to a transfer of an owner's interest in a |
|
|
manufactured home by a beneficiary designation in the same manner |
|
|
and to the same extent as a transfer of real property under a |
|
|
transfer on death deed under Chapter 114. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 122.001(1), Estates Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(1) "Beneficiary" includes a person who would have |
|
|
been entitled, if the person had not made a disclaimer, to receive |
|
|
property as a result of the death of another person: |
|
|
(A) by inheritance; |
|
|
(B) under a will; |
|
|
(C) by an agreement between spouses for community |
|
|
property with a right of survivorship; |
|
|
(D) by a joint tenancy with a right of |
|
|
survivorship; |
|
|
(E) by a survivorship agreement, account, or |
|
|
interest in which the interest of the decedent passes to a surviving |
|
|
beneficiary; |
|
|
(F) by an insurance, annuity, endowment, |
|
|
employment, deferred compensation, or other contract or |
|
|
arrangement; |
|
|
(G) under a pension, profit sharing, thrift, |
|
|
stock bonus, life insurance, survivor income, incentive, or other |
|
|
plan or program providing retirement, welfare, or fringe benefits |
|
|
with respect to an employee or a self-employed individual; |
|
|
(H) by a transfer on death deed; [or] |
|
|
(I) by a beneficiary designation, as defined by |
|
|
Section 115.001, made for a motor vehicle; or |
|
|
(J) by a beneficiary designation, as defined by |
|
|
Section 116.001, made for a manufactured home. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Subchapter E, Chapter 1201, Occupations Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 1201.2135 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 1201.2135. BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION. (a) The owner of |
|
|
a manufactured home may designate a sole beneficiary to whom the |
|
|
owner's interest in the home transfers on the owner's death as |
|
|
provided by Chapter 116, Estates Code, by submitting an application |
|
|
for the issuance of a new statement of ownership under Section |
|
|
1201.206 with the designation. To be effective, the designation |
|
|
must state that the transfer of an interest in the home to the |
|
|
designated beneficiary is to occur at the transferor's death. |
|
|
(b) The legal name of a beneficiary designated under this |
|
|
section must be included on the statement of ownership. |
|
|
(c) The department shall transfer ownership of a |
|
|
manufactured home to a beneficiary designated under this section |
|
|
for the home if the beneficiary submits: |
|
|
(1) an application for the issuance of a statement of |
|
|
ownership under Section 1201.206 not later than the 180th day after |
|
|
the date of the owner's death or, if the home is owned by joint |
|
|
owners, the last surviving owner's death, as applicable; and |
|
|
(2) satisfactory proof of the death of the owner or |
|
|
owners, as applicable. |
|
|
(d) A beneficiary designation may be changed or revoked by |
|
|
submitting a new application for the issuance of a statement of |
|
|
ownership under Section 1201.206. |
|
|
(e) A beneficiary designation or a change or revocation of a |
|
|
beneficiary designation made on an application for the issuance of |
|
|
a statement of ownership for a manufactured home that has not been |
|
|
submitted to the department before the death of a home's owner or |
|
|
owners who made, changed, or revoked the designation, as |
|
|
applicable, is invalid. |
|
|
(f) The department may adopt rules to administer this |
|
|
section. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |