If you have drafted your estate plan with the help of an attorney, know that you are on the right track to ensuring your assets are protected long after you are gone. It is also important, however, to update your estate plan at various points in your life. When do…
If you have minor children, you know how important it is to plan and prepare. One difficult part of parenting that many parents find tough is thinking through what happens to your children if something ever happens to you. If you were to die or become incapacitated, who would take…
For many of our clients in Texas, oil and gas royalties are a part of economic success. How do these royalties play into an estate plan? How are they part of probate proceedings? On today’s blog, we discuss the basics that our clients need to know in relation to this…
The death of a spouse can be challenging enough without having to consider legal implications. When one spouse dies, what happens with the couple’s community property? How does community property affect the probate process? Although these questions are difficult to think through, they are crucial to consider, and today’s blog…
If you are left to handle a loved one’s estate after he or she dies, you will likely be looking to wrap everything up as efficiently as possible. The longer probate drags on, the more time and money it can end up costing everyone involved. As long-standing Houston estate planning…
If you live outside of Texas but own property inside of Texas, your estate plan will likely be subject to the ancillary probate process. Ancillary probate is the legal process through which a non-state resident gets his estate plan (only as the plan relates.to in-state property) approved by a state…
Probate is already a stressful process; if an executor fails to fulfill their duties, the process can be even more stressful than it needs to be. While in an ideal world, every estate executor would operate in a timely and thorough manner, this is not always the case. What happens,…
As you may know, an estate executor is a person appointed by an individual to carry out the terms of his or her will. In Texas, there is a distinction between an independent executor and a dependent executor. An independent executor has the authority to carry out the will’s terms…
An affidavit of heirship is a legal document that formally lists the heirs to a decedent’s property. When does the affidavit of heirship come in handy? And what is the process for filing this kind of affidavit? On today’s blog, we talk through some benefits of the affidavit and provide…
At McCulloch & Miller, we specialize in probate and estate planning. As our clients know, most estates in Texas need to go through probate once the estate owner dies. For those clients with high-value estates, the probate process can be a bit lengthier and more complex. How should individuals with…