Estate Planning

In this article, you will discover: What is involved in succession planning of a business If a buy/sell agreement can be included in your estate plan Estate planning documents by themselves will not protect your business from lawsuits or debts. But, estate planning documents in combination with a proper business organization setup can protect you and your beneficiaries from lawsuits,…

In this article, you will discover: Ways to avoid costly expenses for probate in Texas Probate requires an attorney to file your will for probate. In turn, there will be attorney fees, court costs, and, depending on the assets in the estate, costs for appraisals, etc. The bottom line is that probate can consume a good portion of an individual’s…

I regularly meet with clients who want to take preventative measures to ensure their families are not burdened if they become incapacitated or die. The most common question I hear is, “What do I need to do to make it easy for my loved ones?” I do have a few recommendations. 1. Prepare an Estate Plan If you die without…

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 at this point in your…

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 are single and have no…

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 involves distributing property according to…

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 their names. Janet also heard…

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 the survivor of the two…