The four documents to have in place
1. Durable Power of Attorney (Tex. Est. Code §§751-752)
Texas adopted a statutory short-form POA in 2017. The form is comprehensive but has a critical detail: certain powers called “hot powers” — making gifts, creating or changing rights of survivorship, changing beneficiary designations — must be specifically initialedby the principal. A Texas POA without the hot-power initialing won’t accomplish those acts.1
Texas POAs must be signed by the principal and notarized (witnesses optional but recommended).
2. Medical Power of Attorney (Tex. Health & Safety Code §166.151)
Texas separates medical decision-making from financial decision-making, like Florida and New York. The Medical Power of Attorney names an agent to make medical decisions when the principal cannot. Becomes effective on a physician’s determination of incapacity.2
3. Directive to Physicians (Tex. Health & Safety Code §166.033)
Texas’s living-will equivalent. Expresses your parent’s wishes about life-sustaining treatment in terminal or irreversible conditions. Used by physicians when the principal can’t communicate. Best practice: execute both the MPOA and the Directive.
4. Transfer-on-Death Deed (Tex. Est. Code §114)
The TODD is Texas’s most distinctive estate-planning tool.3Adopted in 2015, it allows a property owner to designate a beneficiary who will receive the property at death — outside probate, with no present transfer (the owner retains full control during life).
Key TODD features:
- Property passes to the named beneficiary at death without probate
- Owner retains full ownership and control during life — can sell, mortgage, or revoke the TODD anytime
- Not a present gift; doesn’t trigger gift tax
- Subject to a 2-year Medicaid look-back?risk if the owner subsequently needs Medicaid (because the TODD is treated as a gift for federal Medicaid purposes — consult an attorney)
- Must be recorded in the county property records during owner’s lifetime to be effective
Texas's unlimited homestead protection
Article XVI §§50–51 of the Texas Constitution provides that the homestead — up to 10 acres in a city or 100 acres outside — is exempt from forced sale by creditors for most debts, regardless of the value of the home.4This is the broadest homestead protection in the United States (Florida is the only other state with comparable protection, but Florida’s acreage limits are different).
Practical implications:
- Medicaid: the homestead is generally exempt for eligibility (subject to federal home equity caps of ~$1.097M for 2026)
- Creditors: most creditors cannot force sale of the homestead (limited exceptions for purchase-money mortgages, home-improvement liens, property taxes, IRS liens)
- Bankruptcy: the Texas homestead retains significant protection even in federal bankruptcy (subject to 1215-day federal residency rule)
Texas probate — independent administration and muniment of title
Texas probate is meaningfully cheaper and faster than California’s. Two Texas-specific shortcuts:
- Independent administration.If the will provides for it (or all beneficiaries consent), the executor administers the estate with minimal court supervision. Typical Texas independent administration completes in 6–12 months at materially lower cost than a CA dependent administration.
- Muniment of title.A Texas-specific quick probate available when the only purpose of probate is to transfer real property title. Court costs $300–$500; no executor needed. Available when the decedent had a will and no unpaid debts (other than secured real estate).
Community property and estate planning
Texas is a community-property? state. Marital assets acquired during marriage are presumed community property; assets owned before marriage or received by gift/inheritance are separate property. Estate planning in Texas must navigate:
- Each spouse owns 1/2 of community property
- Community property gets a full step-up in basis at the death of either spouse (federal benefit)
- Texas allows spouses to convert community to separate property by written agreement
- Surviving-spouse’s homestead rights are constitutionally protected even against the decedent’s will
What to do this quarter
- Confirm your parent has the four documents: Durable POA, MPOA, Directive to Physicians, and (if they own real property) a TODD
- If documents are pre-2017, refresh under the current Texas statutory short forms
- Verify the homestead designation at the county appraisal district
- If the estate exceeds the muniment-of-title use case, plan for independent administration (or a revocable trust to avoid probate entirely)
For how the Medicaid look-back affects transfer planning, see our Texas Medicaid guide.