Houston Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney Blog

Why a Flat Fee for a Probate Attorney Makes the Most Sense

Published on: February 28, 2025 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

If you are navigating the probate process, you have likely investigated the options for legal representation and probate legal services. When choosing an attorney, we recommend looking for someone with experience, positive reviews, and a client-centered approach to their practice. It is equally important, however, to make sure you find someone who is transparent about their fee structure.

Option 1: Flat Fee

A probate attorney could either charge a flat fee or a percentage of the estate’s value. Which one is better? Without a doubt, we believe the flat fee wins every time. When a probate attorney tells you that they charge a flat fee, you can know from the beginning of your work with that attorney the total cost you will end up paying. This fee does not change no matter the size of your estate or the amount of time it takes your attorney to settle the matter in probate court.

One word of caution on the flat fee is to always inquire as to what this fee does not include. For example, does the fee cover court costs? If not, what court costs will you incur? Might there be appraiser’s fees? Or are there any other possible bills you could be responsible for paying? Asking these questions up front can make sure you have full transparency about what you will owe at the end of the probate process.

Options When it Comes to Funding a Trust

Published on: February 23, 2025 | By David W. Miller

Many people assume that when it comes to funding a trust, money from a bank account is the only possible source of assets. Today’s blog post serves to dispel that misconception, because there are many different options available to individuals looking to fund their trusts. There are also important procedural steps to keep in mind if you are thinking of starting your own trust, and we will review some of those steps today. As always, with specific questions about how this blog post applies to you, contact an experienced Houston estate planning attorney for tailored legal advice.

Assets Used to Fund a Trust

Before funding your trust, it is important to write a list of all of the assets you might put into the trust. These assets can include: bank accounts, real estate, investment accounts, retirement accounts, stocks, brokerage accounts, and even personal belongings. Your accounting of your assets should be as detailed as possible so that you have a comprehensive understanding of what you could use to fund your trust.

Legal Services

Also before funding the trust, you will also need to create a trust document with the help of an attorney. The trust document should name your trustor, your trust’s purpose, the trust’s beneficiaries, and the instructions for carrying out the intended purpose. This document should be as detailed as possible and should conform with Texas laws.

Using Life Insurance Trusts to Protect Your Legacy

Published on: February 20, 2025 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

If you are looking for ways to ensure that your loved ones are well-protected in the event of your death, consider the advantages of a life insurance trust. A life insurance trust is a form of legal agreement that puts the grantor’s life insurance into a trust. The designated trustee gains control of the insurance policy, and when the grantor dies, the trustee is responsible for distributing the money from the policy to the grantor’s designated beneficiaries.

Why Use a Life Insurance Trust?

There are several key advantages to the life insurance trust. First, by putting your life insurance into a trust, you allow the funds from the policy to bypass probate completely. This gets money into your beneficiaries’ hands more quickly, more efficiently, and more privately.

The life insurance trust also guarantees some form of liquidity when you die. The cash from the policy can go toward settling the estate, paying off debts, covering the cost of a funeral, or paying estate taxes. The money could also provide your beneficiaries with immediate cash for payments that you might have been making before your death, so that they can have time to figure out a long-term solution in your absence.

What Houston Families Need to Know When It Comes to Planning for Long-Term Care

Published on: February 16, 2025 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

health savings accounts in estate planning

There’s no way around it: long-term care in the United States is expensive. At McCulloch & Miller, we help families plan for the later years of their loved ones’ lives, and for many clients, this can be a daunting process. After several decades of working in the industry, there are several things that we believe Houston families need to know when it comes to planning for long-term care.

Long-Term Care Costs

To find out a realistic estimate of what long-term care might cost you and your loved ones, we recommend using this resource from carescout.com. The unfortunate reality is that you should expect to spend a minimum of approximately $100,000 per year on long-term care, if you are paying out of pocket. This cost is rising every year, but it is important to note that your cost will depend on factors like the level of care you might need.

Payment Options

There are three basic options when it comes to financing a nursing home, a retirement community, assisted living, or a live-in aide: paying out of pocket, using long-term care insurance, or applying for Medicaid. Paying out of pocket allows the greatest amount of flexibility, but it is unrealistic for most individuals given the rising costs of long-term care. Long-term care insurance is a viable option, but it requires paying into the insurance early on. It also involves some risk, in that if you do not end up needing the care your insurance would cover, you lose the money you have invested.

Why Business Owners Need a Buy-Sell Agreement in Their Estate Plan

Published on: February 14, 2025 | By David W. Miller

A buy-sell agreement is a legal provision of an estate plan that details how the estate owner’s business will transition to different ownership when he or she dies. Buy-sell agreements are critical for business owners’ estate plans, as they help ensure that a business can continue to thrive even if the unexpected occurs. On today’s blog, we review some of the basics of the buy-sell agreement, as well as why they are so important for estate planners to consider.

What are the Elements of a Buy-Sell Agreement?

Each buy-sell agreement can look different, and the particular elements will depend in large part on the business owner’s goals. It is common, however, for a buy-sell agreement to include a list of triggering events that put the buy-sell agreement into effect. While the owner’s death will certainly qualify as a triggering event, it’s likely that the owner’s incapacitation and/or voluntary departure will also be triggering events.

The agreement will also include information about how to value the business, the specific buy-out procedures, and restrictions on who is legally able to purchase the owner’s shares of the company. These provisions should be as thorough and detailed as possible.

Charitable Giving Through Estate Planning

Published on: February 11, 2025 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

Many of our clients have causes or organizations that matter deeply to them and that they want to financially support. There are many ways to incorporate charitable giving into your estate plan, and the tool you end up choosing to structure your charitable giving will depend on your own goals and finances.

Option 1: Use Your Will or Trust

You always have the option of giving assets to a charity by naming that charity directly in your will. You can also establish a trust to give money – there is a) a charitable lead trust, which allows you to donate during your lifetime while still leaving money for your heirs, and b) a charitable remainer trust, which provides income during your lifetime but gives the leftover assets to a charity at the end of the trust’s term.

Option 2: Leverage Your Retirement Account

Certain retirement accounts are eligible for charitable giving, meaning you can leave the retirement assets to a nonprofit when you die. By gifting the money in your retirement account, you both avoid a major tax penalty in your estate and allow the receiving charity to avoid paying income taxes on your gift.

How to Incorporate Cryptocurrency into Your Texas Estate Plan

Published on: February 9, 2025 | By David W. Miller

Cryptocurrency, compared to other kinds of assets, is relatively new, and the legal landscape around cryptocurrency is still developing. How, then, do individuals with cryptocurrency incorporate the asset into their estate plan? There are several basic considerations that can be helpful to keep in mind when deciding how to make sure your cryptocurrency is well protected in the event of your death.

Ensuring Possible Heirs Have Access to Your Cryptocurrency

The first consideration for your estate plan and its relationship to cryptocurrency is access to the asset itself. If you are passing your cryptocurrency to your children, do they have a private key to access the cryptocurrency? Do they have access to your crypto wallet? Is there a plan to get your heir access if they do not already have it? These details are important to include in your Texas estate plan.

Deciding How to Categorize Your Cryptocurrency in Your Estate Plan

Your cryptocurrency could be viewed either as a tangible asset or an intangible one, depending on how you store it. If you keep your cryptocurrency offline, like in an external hard drive, a probate court would likely consider it to be tangible property. If you keep your cryptocurrency in online storage, a probate court would more likely view this asset as an intangible asset (similar to an investment or retirement account). For the online cryptocurrency, it is crucial to make sure no one besides your intended heirs has access to the password, because if others are able to use the cryptocurrency, this could complicate the transfer of ownership once the original owner dies.

How Divorce Impacts Your Estate Plan in Texas

Published on: February 4, 2025 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

When you go through a divorce, does your estate plan automatically update to remove your ex-spouse? Or are there steps you need to take to make sure everything is in line with your wishes? At McCulloch & Miller, we consistently tell our clients that they should update their estate plans every three to five years, or, in the alternative, after every major life event. A divorce certainly qualifies as a major life event, and it requires each individual to review their estate plan so that they can make any necessary changes post-divorce.

Automatic Revocation in Texas

In Texas, unlike in some other states, a divorce automatically removes your ex-spouse as a beneficiary in your estate plan. This means that if you had your spouse as an inheritor of your assets, your accounts, your life insurance policy, or your real estate, that person will no longer have any rights to your assets when you die. If you do want your ex-spouse to continue to be a beneficiary to your estate, you will need to explicitly state that in your will after your divorce.

It is therefore necessary, after a divorce, to name a new person or group of people who will inherit from your estate. You might also need to change your power of attorney from your ex-spouse to another person. These amendments are important; because Texas is an automatic revocation state (meaning your ex-spouse is automatically removed from your estate plan when you divorce), it is up to you to fill in the gap that is left behind.

Estate Planning with Minor Beneficiaries in Texas

Published on: January 30, 2025 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

It is natural to want to set your children up for success after you are gone. How does naming children as beneficiaries to an estate plan work? How does the process look different if the children are minors? These are important questions to consider. On today’s blog, we explain how to effectively and legally name minors as beneficiaries to an estate. As always, though, if you have questions about how this topic applies to your specific circumstances, contact a Houston estate planning attorney you can trust.

Naming Minors as Beneficiaries

The first consideration to keep in mind is that under the law in Texas, minors are unable to own property or receive assets. If a decedent names a minor in his or her will, then, the court will require the minor to have a guardian to take control of the inherited assets. The guardian will continue to have control of the assets until the minor turns 18. Having the court appoint a guardian for a minor can take considerable time, and we recommend trying to avoid court intervention in this way if at all possible.

Establishing a Trust

To avoid the court-appointed guardian process, which can require considerable time and money, it is more efficient to leave behind assets in a trust. If a minor inherits assets from a trust, the trustee distributes funds according to the instructions the decedent laid out. These instructions can be as tailored and specific as you want them to be, and they can allow your minor child to continue to benefit from your estate in a responsible, efficient way.

Understanding Pet Trusts

Published on: January 30, 2025 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

For many of our clients and their loved ones, pets are a part of the family. It therefore makes sense to include a provision in these clients’ wills or estate plans to make sure their pets are well-protected. One mechanism that pet owners can insert into their estate plans to protect their furry friends is the pet trust.

What is a Pet Trust?

A pet trust is a legal tool that provides for the care of a pet in the event of the owner’s death or incapacitation. The pet trust typically names a person that will care for the pet if the owner can no longer do so. The trust also typically has funds in it that are used for the pet’s care once the new owner steps in.

What Are Some Important Considerations of a Pet Trust?

There are several things each pet owners should consider when forming a pet trust. First of all, naming a beneficiary is crucial, and you should be sure that you communicate with your beneficiary before putting their name in your estate planning documents. If the beneficiary learns that he or she is caring for your pet only at the time of your death, this could come as an unwelcome surprise.