What Is a Lady Bird Deed, and How Can It Help Texas Seniors?

 Posted on September 28, 2026 in Estate Planning

A Lady Bird deed is a type of Texas deed that lets you keep complete control of your home for as long as you live, then pass it automatically to someone you choose when you die, with no probate required. It is also called an enhanced life estate deed.

For older homeowners, the appeal of a Lady Bird deed  goes beyond skipping probate, because a properly drafted Lady Bird deed can also shield the home from a Medicaid estate recovery claim. A Denton County elder law attorney can tell you whether it fits your situation in 2026.

How Does a Lady Bird Deed Work in Texas?

With a Lady Bird deed, you keep what the law calls an "enhanced life estate," meaning you hold the property for life and also keep the power to sell it, mortgage it, lease it, or cancel the deed entirely without asking anyone.

You name a remainder beneficiary, usually a child or children, who receives whatever you still own at your death. While you are alive, nothing really changes. Your name stays on the title. You keep your homestead exemption and your over-65 tax protections. You can change your mind next year or in 10 years.

Lady Bird Deeds and Medicaid Estate Recovery Program

A Lady Bird deed can protect a home from Medicaid estate recovery by keeping that property out of your probate estate. The Texas Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) files claims against the estates of people who were 55 or older and received certain long-term care benefits.

A Medicaid estate recovery claim is a Medicaid debt that can be paid from property that goes through probate after a person dies. If the home passes directly to a beneficiary instead, it generally stays outside the probate estate and outside MERP's reach.

Because you have not actually given the property away during your life, the transfer does not create the kind of penalty that a gift would during Medicaid's look-back period.

Are Lady Bird Deeds and Transfer-on-Death Deeds Different?

Texas law specifically creates and regulates transfer-on-death (TOD) deeds, while Lady Bird deeds are not based on a specific statute. Both deeds avoid probate. Both can be revoked. The other differences show up after death and in how each one is signed.

Under Texas Estates Code Section 114.106, property passing by a transfer-on-death deed can be reached to pay estate debts for up to two years after death if the probate estate runs short. That window can cloud your beneficiary's title and make the property hard to sell in the meantime. Lady Bird deeds do not carry that statutory exposure.

There are two other practical distinctions. A TOD deed must be signed personally by the owner and cannot be executed under a power of attorney. By contrast, an agent may sign a Lady Bird deed if the power of attorney grants that authority. A transfer-on-death deed also passes the property without a warranty of title, while a Lady Bird deed may include one.

What Are the Risks of a Lady Bird Deed?

The main risks of a Lady Bird deed usually involve how it is prepared and how it fits into the rest of your estate plan. Possible issues include:

• Some lenders and title companies may review the deed more closely because Lady Bird deeds aren’t created by a specific Texas statute.

• The deed only covers the property named in it, so bank accounts, vehicles, and other assets still need their own plan.

• If a beneficiary dies, divorces, or has creditor problems, you may need to update the deed.

• Naming several beneficiaries can create disputes later, especially if they disagree about whether to sell the home.

• An unrecorded deed can create title or priority problems because the transfer does not appear in the county property records.

A Lady Bird deed also does not replace a will. It should be part of a broader estate plan that addresses your other property and family circumstances.

Contact Our Flower Mound, TX Elder Law Attorney Today

Attorney Stephen Colbert brings experience from the bench as well as from practice, having served as an administrative law judge and as a tribal judge for the Chickasaw Indian Nation. He can walk you through whether a Lady Bird deed, a transfer-on-death deed, or a different tool fits your home and your goals.

Contact Colbert Law Group PLLC at 972-724-3338 to talk to our Denton County elder law lawyer today.