I am a widow, 2 stepkids and a daughter. I own my home and have a 1998 pickup....very little cash. How can I be assured my daughter gets everything

The cheap way is to retitle the deed to your home and pickup in both your name and your daughter’s name as Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship. If your cash is in a bank account, make it the same way – a Joint Tenants with Rights to Survivorship Account - with both your and her names on the account. If you have a regular income such as Social Security, or a paycheck, you will want it direct deposited to your bank account.  For life insurance or retirement accounts, make your daughter the beneficiary. I could go on and on.  Everything depends on what the asset is to determine how to title it. When you are joint owners, if one person dies, the other simply becomes the automatic only owner of the asset. But for this to work you must be consistent in your ownership titling. Doing it this way totally avoids the court process...if nothing goes wrong.  What this method gains from being initially inexpensive is lost with all the risk - this method is fraught with problems.  This type of legal titling is giving her true ownership and is no casual business. For instance, some of the positives and negatives include: • If your daughter has financial problems, they could become your problems as well, since you both own all the assets, and• She could have a fight with you and wipe out your bank account, and you will have no recourse, or • She can pay your bills if you get sick, and finally   • Remember that you don’t know what will happen in this life. Your daughter could die before you do. Then no one can help you if you become sick or disabled until they file and pay for a guardianship in court. So, along with the titling, you might want to have a Will and Powers Of Attorney or establish a Trust that assigns your property to other people in the event your daughter does not survive you. If the estate is small enough, you may qualify for some escape from the probate court process in Oklahoma, but property - any asset titled only to your name - guarantees your heir(s) go to probate regardless of whether or not you have a Will.  And by the way, your stepchildren have no legal standing to challenge what you do unless you adopt them. Frankly, you know it is best to see an experienced estate planning and probate attorney to review the specifics of your individual circumstances. That way you’ll get a real plan, instead of guesses, and it is much more likely to accomplish your wishes. Spending some money up front can save a whole lot of expense and grief later. To Your Success, Gale Allison, Principal AttorneyAllison Firm, PLLChttp://www.theallisonfirm.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/galeallison.com