Estate planning documents are prepared based on a snapshot of your life at the time you prepare them. The documents accomplished your goals and objectives then.  But, life changes.  While your estate plan may have achieved your objectives then, your goals now may be different.  So, the documents you have may not accomplish your goals […]

If you die without an Estate Plan, Texas law has a formula that determines the distribution of your assets. That formula does not consider your wishes or unique circumstances. The following summary explains how Texas law distributes your assets if you die without a plan. Rules for a Single Person with No Children If you […]

All property left by a Will must go through probate. Probate is the legal process by which a Will is “proved” and accepted in court as a valid last testament of the deceased. Once the Will is proven to be valid, the legal process of administering the estate of the deceased begins. The administering process […]

Example: Janet is diagnosed with terminal cancer. She has three grown children. Janet heard that her children would likely spend thousands of dollars to probate her estate after her death. Since her only real asset is her family home, she is concerned that they will spend too much on probate to get the house in […]

Example: John and Diane have been married for over 30 years. They have no children together, but each of them has two children from prior marriages. In their Wills, they provide for each other first and then leave the assets equally to all four children. What they don’t consider when drafting their Wills is that […]

I see a lot of poor writing when reviewing estate plans for clients. Most of the worst writing I see occurs when people attempt to write their Wills using forms found on the internet, including LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer. I addressed do-it-yourself estate planning in a previous post. In case you didn’t see it or […]

An effortless and straightforward way to plan for the passing of your estate is to use beneficiary designations. The problem is that beneficiary designations don’t handle contingencies very well. Example: You have a son and a daughter. You name them both as beneficiaries of your life insurance policy. Your daughter predeceases you. What happens to […]

I participate in several online lawyer discussion groups. A few weeks ago, a fellow lawyer posted a story illustrating the dangers of do-it-yourself estate planning. The attorney telling the story said she received a call from a woman whose boyfriend recently died. The boyfriend had considerable wealth. He had consulted with an attorney about an […]