Embracing estate planning to help protect your family from unforeseen circumstances reflects a commitment to responsibility and an awareness of how quickly life can change. The laws surrounding guardianship and wills in Texas offer pathways that can assist individuals with providing a stable future for their minor children. Appointing a guardian for your children is an essential step to safeguard them when you cannot Read More

Navigating through complex healthcare decisions, particularly those related to life-sustaining treatments and end-of-life care, demands thoughtful consideration and clear communication. Regarding Texas law, it is essential to understand what each estate planning tool means, how they are intended to be used, and what they can achieve. Today, we will examine two critical documents: a Directive to Physicians and a Do Read More

Estate planning is how a person expresses their final wishes so that they can be respected and upheld. While many people choose the assistance of a legal professional for this task, the State Bar of Texas has provided another option. Although it may seem odd that an estate planning firm that drafts wills is directing people not to hire an attorney, it is still in line with our belief about how important this document Read More

As your child prepares to begin a significant chapter in their life, it is natural for you, as a parent, to have a wide range of emotions. While you share their excitement, you also want them to be protected. This is why addressing the often-overlooked element of estate planning for college students is crucial. Many people may not factor this into their college planning checklist because their child may have few Read More

  Losing a loved one is emotionally challenging. This difficult time can bring legal complications when the person’s passing coincides with the absence of a will—or any other form of estate planning. In such situations, our office will guide you through the legal challenges that may surface when determining heirship. Over the past few months, we have discussed locating estranged beneficiaries when there is a will and Read More

In our previous post, we discussed what happens to a will if it gets probated within four years of someone’s passing. We looked at this through the lens of estranged beneficiaries, representing a more typical process. Conversely, there are situations where people don’t probate a will after someone has passed away. This could happen for several reasons. People do not understand what probate is or realize they need to Read More

Our next series of blogs will center around the concept of estranged beneficiaries. How they factor into the probate process largely depends on whether there is a will and when the will goes through probate. Today, we will look at the scenario of someone passing away with a will that is probated shortly after their passing. In future posts, we will explain how the process differs when a will is probated more than Read More

A common misconception is that creating a will is an estate plan. Instead your will is only a piece of the plan. When you work with a qualified, experienced estate planning attorney, you will learn that your plan should include documents that address your specific needs. This may include both common documents such as Powers of Attorney and some documents that are designed to address specific or less-than-common Read More

After drafting a plan with your attorney or dealing with a loved one’s estate after passing away, you will appreciate the importance of titling assets. When a person passes away having only completed a will (or nothing at all), their assets will be subject to probate. Previous blogs explained the probate process when you pass away with and without a will. Though we are not here to discuss the probate process, one Read More