As a general rule, it is best to be as thorough as possible when drafting your estate plan. Your plan should include any significant assets you own, and it should be as specific as possible. There are times, however, when decedents unintentionally leave items out of their wills. Today, we…
In Texas, “DIY wills” are not uncommon. A DIY will is a will drafted and finalized entirely by the person planning for his or her death. At our firm, we often say that DIY wills work until they don’t work. While they can end up being a fine option for…
As a team of Texas estate planning attorneys, we often face similar questions from the clients and prospective clients we meet. One such question that many clients ask is: what’s the problem with a DIY will? Our short answer, which we will delve into more through this blog, is that…
In our blog posts in the past, we have reviewed the process of creating, probating, and enforcing a will. In many cases, this process is straightforward, but there are times when complicated factors sneak in. For example: what happens if a person dies with two wills? Which will serve as…
As we have discussed on our blog in the past, there are plenty of tools available to Texans working on finding an estate planning strategy that works for them. Different kinds of trusts, wills, and gifts allow decedents to make sure their assets are protected in a way that benefits…
Do you want to create your will? Are you not quite sure where to begin? In Texas, writing a will and making sure it aligns with the legal requirements can be a tricky process. There are several procedural hurdles to overcome, and when your loved ones’ well-being is on the…
As many of our clients can tell you, estate planning in Texas is different than estate planning in any other state. Every state has its own laws and way of doing things, and it is important to understand your state’s policies as you undergo your own estate planning process. As…
Finding out you are the beneficiary in a decedent’s will can be a small dose of good news in the midst of experiencing grief and in the process of adjusting to life without your loved one. Sometimes, though, a decedent’s beneficiaries are not negatively affected by the death of the…
The will is the most well-known tool in estate planning, and it is often clients’ first choice for how to make sure their assets are transferred to loved ones after their death. The will can be useful in that it allows individuals to provide detailed instructions for their beneficiaries, and…
In a recent case before a court of appeals in Texas, the widow of a property owner had to defend her claim to the property that her husband left her in his will. At issue in the case was how to interpret the wills of both the decedent and the…