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

One of the most common excuses people use to avoid estate planning is that they simply don’t have enough assets to justify the cost of creating a plan. Estate planning encompasses more than just your assets as you will name guardians for your children. However, people often have more assets than they realize. For example, how much money is tied up in your 401(k), IRA, or life insurance policy? When you meet with an Read More

There is a need for ancillary probate when you own property outside your state of residence at the time of your death. When a Montana resident has separate property in Texas, probate must be completed in both states. Ancillary probate is required for the transfer of ownership to occur. It is important to note that this extends to any residential property. For example, you could own a second piece of real estate as a Read More