Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1940 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		By: Hughes S.B. No. 1940
	2	+	(In the Senate - Filed March 5, 2025; March 17, 2025, read
	3	+	first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
	4	+	April 14, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
	5	+	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 14, 2025,
	6	+	sent to printer.)
	7	+	Click here to see the committee vote
	8	+	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1940 By: Creighton
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6	13		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	14		AN ACT
8	15		relating to authorizing a beneficiary designation that transfers a
9	16		manufactured home classified as personal property at the owner's
10	17		death.
11	18		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	19		SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 2, Estates Code, is amended by
13	20		adding Chapter 116 to read as follows:
14	21		CHAPTER 116. BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION FOR CERTAIN MANUFACTURED
15	22		HOMES
16	23		Sec. 116.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
17	24		(1) "Beneficiary designation" means the designation
18	25		by an owner of a manufactured home of one or more beneficiaries of
19	26		the home as provided by Section 1201.2135, Occupations Code.
20	27		(2) "Designated beneficiary" means a person
21	28		designated as a beneficiary of an owner's interest in a
22	29		manufactured home under Section 1201.2135, Occupations Code.
23	30		(3) "Joint owner with right of survivorship" or "joint
24	31		owner" means a person who owns a manufactured home concurrently
25	32		with one or more other persons with a right of survivorship. The
26	33		term does not include an owner of community property with or without
27	34		a right of survivorship.
28	35		(4) "Manufactured home" has the meaning assigned by
29	36		Section 1201.003, Occupations Code.
30	37		(5) "Person" has the meaning assigned by Section
31	38		311.005, Government Code.
32	39		Sec. 116.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to
33	40		a manufactured home classified as personal property under Section
34	41		2.001, Property Code.
35	42		Sec. 116.003. BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION AUTHORIZED. (a) An
36	43		owner of a manufactured home may transfer the owner's interest in
37	44		the home to one or more beneficiaries effective on the owner's death
38	45		by designating each beneficiary as provided by Section 1201.2135,
39	46		Occupations Code.
40	47		(b) A beneficiary designation is:
41	48		(1) subject to Section 116.004(b), revocable and may
42	49		be changed at any time without the consent of the designated
43	50		beneficiaries as provided by Section 1201.2135, Occupations Code;
44	51		(2) a nontestamentary instrument; and
45	52		(3) effective without:
46	53		(A) notice or delivery to or acceptance by the
47	54		designated beneficiaries during the owner's life; or
48	55		(B) consideration.
49	56		(c) A will may not revoke or supersede a beneficiary
50	57		designation, regardless of when the will is made.
51	58		(d) A designated beneficiary may disclaim the designated
52	59		beneficiary's interest in the manufactured home as provided by
53	60		Chapter 240, Property Code.
54	61		Sec. 116.004. JOINT OWNERSHIP. (a) If a manufactured home
55	62		that is the subject of a beneficiary designation is owned by joint
56	63		owners with right of survivorship, the beneficiary designation must
57	64		be made by all of the joint owners.
58	65		(b) A beneficiary designation made by joint owners with
59	66		right of survivorship:
60	67		(1) may be revoked or changed as provided by Section
61	68		1201.2135, Occupations Code, only if it is revoked or changed by all
62	69		of the joint owners; and
63	70		(2) may be revoked or changed by the last surviving
64	71		joint owner as provided by Section 1201.2135, Occupations Code.
65	72		Sec. 116.005. EFFECT OF BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION DURING
66	73		OWNER'S LIFE. During a manufactured home owner's life, a
67	74		beneficiary designation does not:
68	75		(1) affect an interest or right of the owner or owners
69		-	making the designation, including the right to transfer or ~~encumber~~
70		-	the home that is the subject of the designation;
	76	+	making the designation, including the right to transfer or
	77	+	encumber the home that is the subject of the designation;
71	78		(2) create a legal or equitable interest in favor of a
72	79		designated beneficiary in the home that is the subject of the
73	80		designation, even if the beneficiary has actual or constructive
74	81		notice of the designation;
75	82		(3) affect an interest or right of a secured or
76	83		unsecured creditor or future creditor of the owner or owners making
77	84		the designation, even if the creditor has actual or constructive
78	85		notice of the designation; or
79	86		(4) affect an owner's or any designated beneficiary's
80	87		eligibility for any form of public assistance, subject to
81	88		applicable federal law.
82	89		Sec. 116.006. EFFECT OF BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION AT OWNER'S
83	90		OR LAST SURVIVING OWNER'S DEATH. (a) On the death of the owner of a
84	91		manufactured home that is the subject of a beneficiary designation,
85	92		the following rules apply to an interest in the home:
86	93		(1) if any designated beneficiary survives the owner
87	94		making the designation by 120 hours, the interest in the home is
88	95		transferred to each surviving designated beneficiary; and
89	96		(2) if each designated beneficiary fails to survive
90	97		the owner making the designation by 120 hours, the share of each
91	98		designated beneficiary lapses, notwithstanding Section 111.052,
92	99		and is subject to and passes in accordance with Subchapter D,
93	100		Chapter 255, as if each beneficiary designation were a devise made
94	101		in a will.
95	102		(b) If an owner is a joint owner with right of survivorship
96	103		who is survived by one or more other joint owners, the manufactured
97	104		home that is the subject of a beneficiary designation belongs to the
98	105		surviving joint owner or owners. If an owner is a joint owner with
99	106		right of survivorship who is the last surviving joint owner, the
100	107		beneficiary designation is effective.
101	108		(c) A designated beneficiary takes the manufactured home
102	109		subject to all encumbrances, assignments, contracts, liens, and
103	110		other interests to which the home is subject at the owner's or last
104	111		surviving owner's death, as applicable. The transfer to one or more
105	112		designated beneficiaries does not affect the ability of a
106	113		lienholder to pursue an existing means of debt collection permitted
107	114		under the laws of this state.
108	115		Sec. 116.007. CREDITOR CLAIMS; ALLOWANCES IN LIEU OF EXEMPT
109	116		PROPERTY AND FAMILY ALLOWANCES. Sections 114.104(b), (c), and (d)
110	117		and Section 114.106 apply to a transfer of an owner's interest in a
111	118		manufactured home by a beneficiary designation in the same manner
112	119		and to the same extent as a transfer of real property under a
113	120		transfer on death deed under Chapter 114.
114	121		SECTION 2. Section 122.001(1), Estates Code, is amended to
115	122		read as follows:
116	123		(1) "Beneficiary" includes a person who would have
117	124		been entitled, if the person had not made a disclaimer, to receive
118	125		property as a result of the death of another person:
119	126		(A) by inheritance;
120	127		(B) under a will;
121	128		(C) by an agreement between spouses for community
122	129		property with a right of survivorship;
123	130		(D) by a joint tenancy with a right of
124	131		survivorship;
125	132		(E) by a survivorship agreement, account, or
126	133		interest in which the interest of the decedent passes to a surviving
127	134		beneficiary;
128	135		(F) by an insurance, annuity, endowment,
129	136		employment, deferred compensation, or other contract or
130	137		arrangement;
131	138		(G) under a pension, profit sharing, thrift,
132	139		stock bonus, life insurance, survivor income, incentive, or other
133	140		plan or program providing retirement, welfare, or fringe benefits
134	141		with respect to an employee or a self-employed individual;
135	142		(H) by a transfer on death deed; [or]
136	143		(I) by a beneficiary designation, as defined by
137	144		Section 115.001, made for a motor vehicle; or
138	145		(J) by a beneficiary designation, as defined by
139	146		Section 116.001, made for a manufactured home.
140	147		SECTION 3. Subchapter E, Chapter 1201, Occupations Code, is
141	148		amended by adding Section 1201.2135 to read as follows:
142	149		Sec. 1201.2135. BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION. (a) The owner of
143	150		a manufactured home may designate one or more beneficiaries to whom
144	151		the owner's interest in the home transfers on the owner's death as
145	152		provided by Chapter 116, Estates Code, by submitting an application
146	153		for the issuance of a new statement of ownership under Section
147	154		1201.206 with the designation. To be effective, the designation
148	155		must state that the transfer of an interest in the home to one or
149	156		more designated beneficiaries is to occur at the transferor's
150	157		death.
151	158		(b) The legal name of each beneficiary designated under this
152	159		section must be included on the statement of ownership.
153	160		(c) The department shall transfer ownership of a
154	161		manufactured home to the beneficiary or beneficiaries, as
155	162		applicable, designated under this section for the home if the sole
156	163		beneficiary submits or all beneficiaries jointly submit, as
157	164		applicable:
158	165		(1) an application for the issuance of a statement of
159	166		ownership under Section 1201.206 not later than the 365th day after
160	167		the date of the owner's death or, if the home is owned by joint
161	168		owners, the last surviving owner's death, as applicable; and
162	169		(2) satisfactory proof of the death of the owner or
163	170		owners, as applicable.
164	171		(c-1) A beneficiary designation made under this section for
165	172		a manufactured home is void if an application and proof described by
166	173		Subsection (c) are not submitted to the department before the 366th
167	174		day after the date of the owner's death, or if the home is owned by
168	175		joint owners, the last surviving owner's death.
169	176		(d) A beneficiary designation may be changed or revoked by
170	177		submitting a new application for the issuance of a statement of
171	178		ownership under Section 1201.206.
172	179		(e) A beneficiary designation or a change or revocation of a
173	180		beneficiary designation made on an application for the issuance of
174	181		a statement of ownership for a manufactured home that has not been
175	182		submitted to the department before the death of a home's owner or
176	183		owners who made, changed, or revoked the designation, as
177	184		applicable, is invalid.
178	185		(f) An application for issuance of a statement of ownership
179	186		designating a beneficiary in accordance with this section that is
180	187		mailed to the department must be mailed by certified or registered
181	188		mail, return receipt requested. The application is considered
182	189		submitted to the department on the date the certified or registered
183	190		mail is postmarked.
184	191		(g) The department may adopt rules to administer this
185	192		section.
186	193		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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