re: "Estate" Planning: 75 yr old father & his mortgage

Is he paying the mortgage? House is just in his name?

Really depends on whether or not you want to keep the house. The other issue you may or might not deal with will be nursing home costs. Guess which asset they're going after first for repayment. If you really want to keep the house for your dad's lifetime and he is paying the mortgage, you should really look at some sort of vehicle for granting him a life estate and for taking it out of his reach for nursing home protection.

In Florida we have a lady bird deed that we recommend to a lot of clients. It grants a life estate with full ability to sell/mortgage the house, but it prevents the nursing homes from going after the asset as long as it is beyond the five year look back period.