Estate Planning

The Two Tax Returns a Texas Executor Has to File

Published on: October 19, 2026 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

An executor in a Texas probate case usually spends the first months on letters testamentary, the inventory, and notice to creditors. Federal income tax tends to come later, and it often comes as a surprise, because the year of death produces two income tax returns rather than one. Texas has no state income tax, so both are federal, and both are the executor’s responsibility.

The first executor tax return in Texas is the decedent’s final Form 1040, covering income up to the date of death. The second is Form 1041, the estate’s own income tax return, for income the estate receives after death, such as interest, dividends, or rent. Federal law makes the executor responsible for both.

In an estate that cannot pay all of its debts, an executor who distributes assets before the federal tax is paid can end up personally liable for it. McCulloch & Miller, PLLC guides Houston executors through this part of probate alongside the court filings.

Pooled Trusts and Texas Medicaid After Age 65

Published on: October 7, 2026 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Texas Medicaid allows a person receiving long-term care to keep only $2,000 in countable resources, and families with an older relative who has modest savings above that line often hear that a special needs trust is the answer. For a person 65 or older, the usual first-party special needs trust is no longer available. A pooled trust is, but Texas treats money placed into one after 65 differently from money placed in earlier, and that difference shapes whether the trust helps.

A pooled trust is a trust run by a nonprofit association that keeps a separate account for each disabled beneficiary and pools those accounts for investment. Federal law places no age limit on joining one. Texas Medicaid does not count the account as a resource, but its handbook applies transfer-of-assets rules to money contributed for a person who is 65 or older, which can create a period of Medicaid ineligibility. McCulloch & Miller, PLLC advises Austin families on this trade-off through its special needs planning practice.

Why the Age of 65 Changes the Options

Paying a Family Caregiver Without Triggering a Texas Medicaid Penalty

Published on: September 22, 2026 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Paying a Family Caregiver Without Triggering a Texas Medicaid Penalty

Last updated September 22, 2026 · Reviewed by Thomas W. McCulloch

Texas Medicaid reviews five years of an applicant’s financial history before it pays for nursing facility care. Money paid to a relative who has been providing care is one of the places a family’s arrangement can come apart. A payment the family sees as fair wages can look to the state like a gift. When it does, Medicaid withholds payment for a stretch of time calculated from the amount.

Texas HHS counts payments to a family caregiver as compensation rather than a gift only under specific conditions. The payments must follow an agreement established on or before the transfer, made for purposes other than qualifying for Medicaid, for services actually provided and documented. Payment for ordinary household help that a family member would normally provide does not count at all. A personal care agreement for Texas Medicaid purposes has to be built around those rules from the start. McCulloch & Miller treats it as part of Medicaid crisis planning for Houston families, not a form to sign later.

How Community Property Resets the Tax Basis for a Texas Surviving Spouse

Published on: September 17, 2026 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

How Community Property Resets the Tax Basis for a Texas Surviving Spouse

Last updated September 17, 2026 · Reviewed by Thomas W. McCulloch

When a married Texan dies, the federal tax basis of the property the couple owned is recalculated, and Texas’s community property system changes how much of that property gets the new figure. For a surviving spouse deciding whether to sell a Houston home or a long-held brokerage account, the result can be that decades of appreciation never enter the gain calculation. The rule is federal, but it depends on Texas marital property law to work.

Under 26 U.S.C. § 1014, property acquired from a person who has died takes a basis equal to its fair market value on the date of death. Section 1014(b)(6) extends that treatment to the surviving spouse’s own half of community property, so both halves of a community asset take the date-of-death value rather than only the half that belonged to the spouse who died. McCulloch & Miller, whose founding partner is both an attorney and a CPA, builds this rule into the estate planning it does for Houston couples and into the advice it gives surviving spouses.

The Texas Declaration of Guardian You Sign in Advance

Published on: August 21, 2026 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

estate planning with a cognitive decline

Last updated August 23, 2026 · Reviewed by Thomas W. McCulloch

Texas law lets an adult decide ahead of time who would serve as guardian if incapacity ever made a guardian necessary. The instrument that does it is a declaration of guardian, signed while capacity is intact and set aside until someone needs it. It also lets the person signing name an individual who may never serve, and that second power is written far more strictly than the first.

The designation carries real weight. Under Texas Estates Code § 1104.202(a), a court shall appoint the person named in a valid declaration in preference to anyone else otherwise entitled to serve, unless it finds that person disqualified or that the appointment would not serve the ward’s best interests. Those two findings are the only routes around the designation. That makes a declaration of guardian in Texas substantially stronger than a letter of wishes, a note in a file, or a conversation the family half-remembers. Estate planning at McCulloch & Miller pairs it with the documents meant to keep the question from arising at all.

What a Declaration of Guardian in Texas Actually Does

A declaration of guardian is a signed written instrument in which a competent adult designates who should serve as guardian of that person’s person or estate if a guardian is later needed. It operates only if the need arises, and it can name alternates in order under § 1104.212, so that the next eligible person named takes over if the first choice has died, declines, cannot qualify, or later resigns.

The declaration does not need to look like a form. Section 1104.204(a) says it may be in any form adequate to clearly indicate the declarant’s intention, and while the statute supplies a sample, subsection (b) states plainly that the form may be used but is not required. The statute tests the declarant’s intention and the execution of the document rather than its layout.

Surviving Spouse Rights in Texas Probate

Published on: June 29, 2026 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

When a married person dies in Texas, the surviving spouse has a set of legal protections that exist no matter what the will says or who inherits the property. These rights let a widow or widower stay in the family home, keep essential personal property, and draw an allowance from the estate for support during the first hard year. They are some of the strongest protections in Texas probate law, and they often surprise the people they protect.

McCulloch & Miller, PLLC helps surviving spouses and families assert these rights during the Texas probate process, in Dallas and across the state. The firm handles estate administrations on a flat fee basis for many matters and has guided Texas families through them for over 35 years.

What rights does a surviving spouse have in Texas?

Clearing Title Without a Will Though an Affidavit of Heirship

Published on: June 15, 2026 | By David W. Miller

An affidavit of heirship is a sworn statement, recorded in the county’s real property records, that identifies who inherited a deceased person’s land when no will was probated. In Texas, families use it most often to clear title to a home or other real estate after a relative dies without a will, so the property can be sold, refinanced, or simply put in the heirs’ names. It is one of the least expensive ways to handle real estate after a death, though it does not fit every estate.

McCulloch & Miller, PLLC helps families in Austin and across Texas decide whether an affidavit of heirship will clear a property’s title or whether a court proceeding is the safer route. The firm handles Texas probate and heirship matters statewide and offers flat fee pricing on many of them.

What is an affidavit of heirship in Texas?

What Are Letters Testamentary in Texas and How Do You Get Them?

Published on: May 29, 2026 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

Letters Testamentary are the court-issued document that gives an executor legal authority to act on behalf of a deceased person’s estate in Texas. Until the probate court issues them, even an executor named in a will cannot legally access bank accounts, sell property, or settle the estate’s debts. Obtaining Letters Testamentary is one of the first and most important steps in administering an estate with a valid will.

McCulloch & Miller, PLLC helps executors obtain Letters Testamentary and complete the Texas probate process in Houston, Harris County, and the greater Houston metro area. The firm offers flat fee pricing on many probate matters and has guided executors through the Harris County Probate Courts for over 35 years.

What Are Letters Testamentary?

Letters Testamentary are an official certificate from the probate court confirming that a named executor has been appointed and has authority to manage a decedent’s estate. Banks, title companies, brokerage firms, and other institutions require a current copy before they will release funds or allow an executor to act. In effect, the letters are the executor’s proof of authority to the outside world.

Texas Medicaid Planning: Protecting Assets From Long-Term Care Costs

Published on: May 27, 2026 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Texas Medicaid planning is the process of legally structuring your income and assets so you can qualify for long-term care coverage without spending down everything you have saved. Nursing home care in Texas can cost thousands of dollars a month, and Medicaid is the primary program that helps families pay for it. With advance planning, many families are able to preserve significant assets while still meeting Medicaid’s strict financial limits.

McCulloch & Miller, PLLC helps families across Houston, Harris County, and the greater Houston metro area with Texas Medicaid crisis planning. Founding partner Thomas McCulloch is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, and his commitment to elder law grew from his own experience caring for his aging mother — perspective that shapes how the firm approaches these deeply personal decisions.

What Are the Medicaid Asset Limits in Texas?

To qualify for long-term care Medicaid in Texas, a single applicant generally must have no more than $2,000 in countable assets (as of 2026). Not everything counts, though: a primary home within the equity limit, one vehicle, personal belongings, and certain other resources are typically exempt. Because these figures are adjusted periodically, families should confirm the current limits with Texas Health and Human Services before relying on them.

Estate Planning for Business Owners in Houston

Published on: May 17, 2026 | By David W. Miller

Estate Planning for Business Owners in Houston

For a Houston business owner, estate planning is not just about a will — it is about making sure the company survives the owner’s death or incapacity without forcing a fire sale, a family fight, or a costly court process. A complete plan addresses who takes over, how ownership transfers, how the business is valued, and how to protect both the company and the owner’s family from unnecessary taxes and creditors. Without one, a thriving Houston business can stall the moment its owner is gone.

McCulloch & Miller, PLLC works with business owners throughout Houston, Harris County, and the greater Houston metro area on estate planning for business owners. Partner David Miller brings a background in corporate trust, investment banking, and securities work that gives the firm an uncommon depth of understanding when a closely held business is the centerpiece of an estate.

Why Do Houston Business Owners Need Specialized Estate Planning?

A business is rarely like other assets. It may be illiquid, hard to value, and dependent on the owner’s daily involvement — which means the standard “leave everything to my spouse” plan can leave a company without leadership and a family without income. For owners in industries that define the Houston economy, from energy and professional services to family-run enterprises across Sugar Land, Katy, and The Woodlands, the stakes are especially high.