Estate planning is about more than preparing documents. A good plan should help the right people act when needed, reduce avoidable court involvement, coordinate how property passes, and give your family clear instructions.
The right plan depends on what you own, how it is titled, who you are planning for, and what you want to accomplish.
I’m Harvey L. Cox, a Waco estate planning attorney serving clients throughout Texas.
Estate Planning Services
Wills & Trusts
Wills and revocable living trusts are two different planning tools. The right choice depends on your assets, family circumstances, probate concerns, and how much ongoing control you want built into the plan.
Probate Avoidance Planning
A will does not avoid probate by itself. Probate exposure often depends on how real estate, bank accounts, investments, beneficiary designations, and other assets are arranged.
Planning may involve trusts, deeds, beneficiary designations, survivorship provisions, or other ownership arrangements.
Powers of Attorney & Incapacity Planning
Estate planning should address what happens during your lifetime if illness, injury, or cognitive decline makes it difficult or impossible for you to manage financial or medical decisions.
A coordinated plan can include financial powers of attorney, medical powers of attorney, advance directives, and related documents.
Asset Protection Planning
Texas law protects some assets automatically, while other assets may remain exposed to creditors, lawsuits, long-term-care costs, or poor inheritance planning.
Asset protection planning focuses on identifying what is protected, what is exposed, and what planning options may be available.
Long-Term Care & Medicaid Planning
Long-term-care costs can affect a family’s home, savings, and estate plan. Planning before a crisis gives families more options than waiting until care is immediately needed.
Special Needs Planning
An outright inheritance can create problems for a beneficiary who receives or may later need needs-based government benefits.
A special needs trust can allow assets to be managed for that person without automatically requiring the inheritance to be spent before benefits are available.
Do You Need a Will or a Trust?
A will may be entirely appropriate for some Texas families. In other situations, a revocable living trust may provide better probate avoidance, incapacity management, privacy, or control over how assets are distributed.
Neither tool is automatically better.
The decision should be based on your property, how it is titled, your family situation, and the problems you are trying to prevent.
A Practical, Texas-Focused Approach
Every estate plan should fit the family using it.
My work focuses on creating plans that are understandable, practical, and coordinated under Texas law. That includes looking beyond the documents themselves to ownership, beneficiary designations, real estate, incapacity planning, and the way the plan is expected to work in real life.
Clear, Flat-Fee Planning Options
Estate planning should not leave you guessing about legal fees.
Flat-fee planning options are available so you know the cost of the agreed planning work before the documents are prepared.
Common Problems Estate Planning Can Help Prevent
- unnecessary probate delays and expense;
- property passing to unintended beneficiaries;
- outdated beneficiary designations;
- family confusion about who should act;
- missing or incomplete incapacity planning;
- real estate passing in an unintended way;
- inheritances creating problems for vulnerable beneficiaries
Many of these problems arise because individual documents, accounts, deeds, and beneficiary forms were never coordinated as one plan.
More Than Thirty-Five Years in Practice
Harvey L. Cox has practiced law in Texas since 1990 and now focuses his practice on estate planning and asset protection.
His background includes substantial litigation experience before he concentrated his practice on helping families prevent legal and financial problems through estate planning and asset-protection planning.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
If you are ready to discuss your estate plan, you can call (254) 233-7300 to schedule a private consultation.
If you are still gathering information, the Texas Probate Risk Workbook can help you organize your property, beneficiary information, and planning questions before you meet with an attorney.