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Recent Blog Posts
What Parents with Children Should Know About Estate Planning
For many parents, one thought in particular is unconscionable: passing away while their children are still young. For families with children and two living parents, you may not think that you need to worry or think about estate planning. You may consider your children protected since you and your spouse are still alive. However, life can be wildly unpredictable. Therefore, while it is unlikely you will ever need an estate plan that considers the various needs of your children living without you, like the saying goes - it is better to be safe than sorry.
While you cannot directly leave money for a minor, regardless of whether they are your child, there are estate planning tools that allow you in other ways to protect them. If you are a parent with minor children and do not have an estate plan already made with your children in mind, the best time to create one is now. If you are interested in creating an estate plan and want to jumpstart the process, do not hesitate to contact a knowledgeable estate planning attorney who will work to ensure your estate plan is lawful and addresses the areas you are most concerned about.
What to Know About Charitable Giving and Estate Plans
When creating their estate plan, many people ponder how best their assets can be allocated and to whom the assets should be allocated. In many cases, people may only be interested in including their family and close friends as beneficiaries in their estate plan. However, some people decide that they would like to donate a portion of their estate to charity. This can be an excellent way to leave a lasting legacy that is felt long after you are gone. However, if you are interested in this, you should be aware that donating money or property posthumously to charity has numerous other benefits.
When it comes to donating a portion of your estate to charity, there are many different things to consider. If you are interested in donating some of your estate to charity, consult with an experienced estate planning attorney who will protect your rights and guide you through the process as seamlessly as possible.
Do Young Adults Need Estate Plans?
More often than not, estate planning is considered to be something only older adults need to deal with and worry about. This is understandable, as wills and trusts are generally discussed in the context of older adults and the elderly. However, if history has taught us anything, nothing in life is guaranteed. Just because someone may be young does not mean they are guaranteed to live a long life. As a result, estate planning for young adults is not as crazy as it may sound and, in many cases, can be a very wise decision.
There are so many different contingencies in life. Therefore, if you are a young adult interested in creating an estate plan, contacting an experienced Texas estate planning attorney is an excellent place to start.
Reasons Why Young Adults Should Consider Creating an Estate Plan
What to Know About Contesting a Will in Texas
The aftermath of a loved one’s death can be a time of great difficulty for various reasons. A common source of contention after a loved one dies arises when it is time to read the last will and testament. A person’s will is a blueprint for how they would like their assets and property to be allocated to their beneficiaries upon death. Beneficiaries are generally named within the will. Sometimes, one or more heirs of the will may argue that the will is invalid.
When issues like these arise, the situation may be addressed through probate litigation. Beneficiaries can take legal action if they believe the estate or trust administration was done improperly. This realm of law can get quite complex. You will need competent legal representation if you are interested in contesting a will. Consult with a probate litigation attorney to ensure your rights remain protected throughout working to ensure your loved one’s wishes are followed correctly.
Updating Your Estate Plan After a Divorce
There are many reasons and situations that require an update to your estate plan. Divorce just so happens to be one of the more common and potentially catastrophic situations. Unfortunately, the hectic nature of divorce makes it also easy to overlook or forget updating an estate plan. There are many loose ends to tie up once the divorce process is complete, and with so much to manage, estate planning can easily slip through the cracks. Unfortunately, if something does happen to you before you have made changes to your estate plan, assets may not go to the people and places you had hoped. Do not let this happen to you. Learn what and when you should update in your estate plan after your divorce.
Changing Your Beneficiaries
If you have a 401K, IRA, or other retirement plan, the beneficiary listed on your policy should be checked upon completion of the divorce. Of course, you may have to split some of your savings in your divorce, but the remaining amount should still belong to you. If you do not want the remainder to go to your spouse upon your passing, and they are listed as the current beneficiary, it is important that you change this in your policy. Alternatively, if you wish your ex-spouse to be listed as a trustee for your children, ensure the policy and your other estate planning documents reflect this wish.
Common Mistakes Made During the Probate Process in Texas
Estate planning is designed so that once someone dies, their family members and loved ones will know what to do with the deceased person's property, heirlooms they may have possessed, and other wishes they had. When someone dies with a will, they typically assign a loved one to be the executor of the will. If the loved one dies without a will, a family member may step forward and ask to be the estate executor. The executor's role is to ensure the deceased person's estate is managed correctly.
Probate is when the court officially recognizes someone's death and authorizes the management and allocation of whatever their estate contains. Probate aims to ensure that all assets in the deceased person's name are transferred to the living individuals named in the will, or, if there is no will, that their assets are distributed according to state inheritance law. If you were named executor of an estate and wish to begin the probate process, you should hire an experienced attorney familiar with the probate process. Failure to hire a competent attorney to help you work through the probate process may result in critical errors.
What Are the Steps in the Texas Probate Process?
When someone passes away, there are several matters related to the property they owned, assets they possessed, and other final wishes the person had that will need to be taken care of. These types of matters are usually handled by whoever was chosen as the executor of the estate. If the deceased created a will before they passed away, the document likely contains the relative named as the executor. Sometimes, when a person passes away without a will, a relative may ask to be designated administrator of the estate.
Moving forward with the process, the person chosen as executor or estate administrator will need to complete the probate process. Probate is a process where a court lawfully recognizes someone's death and authorizes the management and distribution of their estate. Ultimately, the goal of probate is to appropriately transfer any assets out of a deceased individual's name into the names of the living. In the event you were named as an executor or wish to serve as the estate administrator, an attorney experienced in estate and probate litigation can help you properly address the issues at hand.
What is a Special Needs Trust, and Why Are They Important?
The idea behind estate planning is to put your family in the best possible situation by planning for future events. What will happen to my family when I am no longer here? is a challenging but essential question to ask yourself as you seek to grant your family peace of mind by preparing for whatever may happen.
The needs of families can differ, as can the needs of individual family members. For example, suppose you have a family member with a physical or mental disability who is dependent on you or other family members. Depending on their level of disability, you may be concerned about their inability to care for themselves independently. You may be interested in securing their physical and financial well-being after you pass away. In that case, it is wise to speak with an experienced attorney knowledgeable in special needs trusts, which can grant you the peace of mind that your loved one will be taken care of in the future.
Living Wills and Other End of Life Legal Options
So many things in life are completely out of our control. The estate planning process aims to give back some of this control to people and their families when the inevitable or unpredictable happens. Estate planning can address issues associated with money and property. To ensure their family is adequately provided for in the event of their death, many people create a will, laying out the deceased person’s wishes for when they are no longer living.
While most people have likely heard of a will, they may not have heard of a living will. Essentially, a living will is a document of medical instructions that allows you to determine, while you are still alive, what medical decisions you would like administered or withheld in the event you become medically incapacitated. If you believe you or your loved one may benefit from creating a living, it may be wise for you to contact an experienced attorney knowledgeable in estate planning.
Who Should Have Powers of Attorney Ready?
Powers of attorney can be powerful tools for self-protection during your own lifetime. Should you ever find yourself in a situation where you are not capable of making decisions for yourself or managing your estate, you would likely want to be able to choose the person who should step in and begin managing your affairs. Many people think of powers of attorney as being important mainly for older adults who are likely to suffer mental deterioration due to the effects of aging and aging-related illnesses such as dementia. However, senior adults are not the only group of people who should have powers of attorney in place.
Our team has seen many, many situations where a seemingly young and healthy person is involved in an emergency and needs another person to make medical decisions or get their bills paid on time. Serious accidents can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. With powers of attorney in place, you can be ready for any surprises life may throw your way.
14603 Huebner Rd., Bldg. 32, San Antonio, TX 78230
210-535-0870
