S.B. No. 869
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to authorizing a beneficiary designation that transfers a
  motor vehicle 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 115 to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 115. BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION FOR MOTOR VEHICLES
         Sec. 115.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
               (1)  "Beneficiary designation" means the designation
  by an owner of a motor vehicle of a beneficiary of the vehicle as
  provided by Section 501.0315, Transportation Code.
               (2)  "Designated beneficiary" means a person
  designated as a beneficiary of an owner's interest in a motor
  vehicle under Section 501.0315, Transportation Code.
               (3)  "Joint owner with right of survivorship" or "joint
  owner" means a person who owns a motor vehicle 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)  "Motor vehicle" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 501.002, Transportation Code.
               (5)  "Person" has the meaning assigned by Section
  311.005, Government Code.
         Sec. 115.002.  BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION AUTHORIZED. (a)  An
  owner of a motor vehicle may transfer the owner's interest in the
  motor vehicle to a sole beneficiary effective on the owner's death
  by designating a beneficiary as provided by Section 501.0315,
  Transportation Code.
         (b)  A beneficiary designation is:
               (1)  subject to Section 115.003(b), revocable and may
  be changed at any time without the consent of the designated
  beneficiary as provided by Section 501.0315, Transportation 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 motor vehicle as provided by Chapter
  240, Property Code.
         Sec. 115.003.  JOINT OWNERSHIP. (a)  If a motor vehicle
  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
  501.0315, Transportation 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 501.0315, Transportation Code.
         Sec. 115.004.  EFFECT OF BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION DURING
  OWNER'S LIFE. During a motor vehicle 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 motor vehicle that is the subject of the designation;
               (2)  create a legal or equitable interest in favor of
  the designated beneficiary in the motor vehicle 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. 115.005.  EFFECT OF BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION AT OWNER'S
  OR LAST SURVIVING OWNER'S DEATH. (a)  On the death of the owner of
  a motor vehicle that is the subject of a beneficiary designation,
  the following rules apply to an interest in the motor vehicle:
               (1)  if the designated beneficiary survives the owner
  making the designation by 120 hours, the interest in the motor
  vehicle 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 motor vehicle
  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 motor vehicle
  subject to all encumbrances, assignments, contracts, liens, and
  other interests to which the vehicle 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. 115.006.  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
  motor vehicle 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; [or]
                     (H)  by a transfer on death deed; or
                     (I)  by a beneficiary designation as defined by
  Section 115.001.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter B, Chapter 501, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 501.0315 to read as follows:
         Sec. 501.0315.  BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION. (a)   The owner of
  a motor vehicle may designate a sole beneficiary to whom the owner's
  interest in the vehicle transfers on the owner's death as provided
  by Chapter 115, Estates Code, by submitting an application for
  title under Section 501.023 with the designation.  To be effective,
  the designation must state that the transfer of an interest in the
  vehicle 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 title.
         (c)  The department shall transfer title of a motor vehicle
  to a beneficiary designated under this section for the vehicle if
  the beneficiary submits:
               (1)  an application for title under Section 501.023 not
  later than the 180th day after the date of the owner's death or, if
  the vehicle 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 title under Section 501.023.
         (e)  A beneficiary designation or a change or revocation of a
  beneficiary designation made on an application for title of a motor
  vehicle that has not been submitted to the department before the
  death of a vehicle'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, 2017.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 869 passed the Senate on
  April 19, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 869 passed the House on
  May 23, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0, two
  present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor