Texas and federal law provide far more protections to married couples than to unmarried couples. This situation is strikingly problematic in the area of estate planning. A Texas estate planning attorney can talk to you about these issues and help you craft documents tailored specifically to your situation and goals.
What You Should Know About Naming a Trust as a Beneficiary of an IRA
You can do a lot of things with living trusts that you cannot do with a standard will or with many other types of documents. People use different types of trusts to avoid probate, reduce the expenses of estate administration, protect beneficiaries from themselves, qualify for help from Medicaid to pay for...
Powerful Provisions in Your Financial Power of Attorney
When you create a financial power of attorney, you try to anticipate all the situations that might happen at any point down the road. A standard power of attorney usually contains some general powers, or the document would be pointless.
This article will discuss some of the powerful provisions...
What Is Digital Estate Planning?
When a person thinks about estate planning, they probably think of drafting a will, a trust, or other documents such as a power of attorney. But today, we also need to consider what happens to our digital property and assets when we pass. This is what is known as digital estate planning....
Who Should Be Your Successor Trustee? – Estate Planning
The choice of who will be trustee of your living trust after you is one of the most important decisions you can make in your estate planning. There are several factors you will want to consider when selecting your successor trustee.
A Texas estate planning attorney can create...
Duties and Responsibilities of a Trustee – Estate Planning
When you create a living trust document as part of your estate planning, you will need to select someone to serve as the trustee of your trust. Usually, the person who creates the trust is the trustee during their lifetime. The successor trustee steps in to administer the trust after the original...
Incapacity Planning – What is It, Who Needs It, and Why?
Anyone could become temporarily incapacitated due to a sudden motor vehicle accident, illness, or injury. Some people are able to recover and regain the ability to manage their finances and make and express their own decisions about medical care and other issues. Some people become incapacitated for many years.
5 Reasons You Need a Will
Preparing a will is one of the easiest things you can do to have an estate plan and peace of mind. Unfortunately, too many people don’t prepare one and die intestate (without a will). You may not realize that when a person dies without a will, the state decides what happens to their...
Estate Planning for Those With More Than $100,000 in Assets
Many events in our lives, such as buying a home or having children, cause us to consider if we should prepare an estate plan. Often, once individuals acquire assets above $100,000, they seek the advice of an attorney. A typical estate plan involves a will, advance directives, and in some cases, a...
Understanding Texas Special Needs Trusts
Like many other states, Texas allows people to create special needs trusts that can provide financial help for people with disabilities. There are strict rules on how to set up a special needs trust and limitations on how the trust assets can be used. If these rules get violated, innocently or otherwise,...