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The Hidden Costs of Not Having an Estate Plan in Texas

Published on: April 3, 2025 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

Dallas residents juggle careers, kids, and commutes; estate planning slides down the to-do list. Yet waiting has a price. When you pass away without clear instructions, your family pays—sometimes literally. Working with a Dallas probate lawyer at McCulloch & Miller, PLLC uncovers those hidden expenses early, saving your heirs from sticker shock later.

Probate Court Fees Add Up Quickly

Texas probate courts charge filing fees for every major step. Opening an intestate estate, requesting letters of administration, publishing mandatory notices, securing appraisals, and filing annual accountings each require a separate payment. A single fee rarely tops a few hundred dollars, but multiple petitions can double or triple costs. Because the administrator must post a bond when no will waives it, premiums rise with estate size. Those dollars leave the estate before heirs ever see a distribution, shrinking the legacy you meant to leave.

Family Conflicts Lead to Expensive Court Battles

Money can unite families—or tear them apart. Without written guidance, siblings debate who gets the lake cabin or Mom’s jewelry. One relative may accuse another of hiding assets; another may challenge the court-appointed administrator. Probate litigation attorneys bill hundreds of dollars an hour, mediators require retainers, and forensic accountants demand deposits. Even if peace returns, legal fees erode the estate. A clear estate plan puts your wishes on paper and keeps disagreements from spiraling into lawsuits.

How to Avoid a Contested Probate in Texas

Published on: November 29, 2024 | By David W. Miller

If you go through the trouble to carefully draft and execute your estate planning documents, you want your loved ones to respect your wishes for your assets. Sometimes, though, heirs contest their loved ones’ wills after their loved ones are gone. The most common reasons that descendants contest a will include fraud, undue influence, and testamentary capacity. Maintaining an awareness of these possibilities is the first step to protecting your will or estate plan from being contested. There are methods, though, that we recommend you keep in mind in order to give yourself the best possible chance of avoiding a contested probate process in Texas.

Consider a Trust

If you choose to put assets in a trust instead of a will, the assets avoid probate altogether. The trust has several major benefits, one of which is that it offers less opportunity for loved ones to contest the distribution of assets. Probate is a long, drawn-out legal process, and it can sometimes get messy if heirs or other third parties want to challenge the legality of a will. By putting assets into a trust, heirs automatically get the assets left by the decedent and avoid probate altogether.

Consult an Experienced Houston Estate Planning Attorney

One of the best ways to guard against a contested probate is by talking with a Houston estate planning attorney to ensure your estate plan is both legally valid and enforceable. It can be tempting to use “DIY” wills online, and while it seems easier and less expensive in the short term to use these online tools, it can often end up leading to drawn out, complicated probate processes later on. We therefore recommend investing the time and money into consulting with an attorney early in your process to make sure your will has everything it needs.

Does a Texas Power of Attorney Expire?

Published on: April 16, 2023 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

One common question we receive from clients and potential clients revolves around power of attorney – does it expire? If so, when? Understanding power of attorney is crucial, especially if you have a loved one that might need help making decisions for themselves. At McCulloch & Miller, we understand that these are delicate topics, and we are here to help you and the people you care about navigate processes like this one with the utmost care.

What is Power of Attorney?

If one person has power of attorney over an individual, it means he or she can make decisions on behalf of the individual. The power of attorney can have broad powers or limited ones, depending on the circumstances and the nature of the relationship. A power of attorney might make financial decisions, medical decisions, or decisions surrounding a person’s property and estate. Importantly, the individual in any power of attorney relationship has the right to know what their power of attorney is doing and to see any paperwork the power of attorney might be using to make decisions.

How Do You Know When a Power of Attorney Expires?

Different states have different rules about how and when power of attorney might expire. In Texas, the answer to this question depends on what kind of power of attorney relationship exists. For example, a “limited power of attorney” exists only for the purpose of handling a specific issue. Once this matter is finished, the power of attorney expires. Similarly, a “medical power of attorney” gives authority only if the individual is unable to make her or his own medical decisions.

McCulloch & Miller Announces the New Estate Planning Maintenance Plan

Published on: November 15, 2022 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

McCulloch & Miller Announces the New Estate Planning Maintenance Plan

Estate planning is an integral part of life for all Americans, regardless of your age or the amount of financial assets you’ve accumulated thus far in your life. However, one of the most common misconceptions about estate planning is that once your estate planning documents have been drafted, you never need to revisit them. At McCulloch & Miller, we recommend all of our clients at least annually review their estate plan with an attorney to ensure that it continues to meet your needs, goals and current situation. Moreover, it is essential to take a look at your estate planning documents whenever you experience a major change in your life. It is for this reason that we’ve developed the Estate Planning Maintenance Plan.

What Is the Estate Planning Maintenance Plan?

The idea behind an estate plan is to create documents that will serve your interests regardless of what the future holds. However, over time, the circumstances of your life will change. The Estate Planning Maintenance Plan is a new program McCulloch & Miller, PLLC has rolled out to help current clients keep on top of their estate planning needs. The plan was designed for our existing clients in hopes of offering a cost-effective way for them to make sure their estate plan continues to serve them as well as it did when it was first created.

For the low annual cost of $500 (for individuals) or $750 (for couples), you will receive the following:

An annual consultation for an estate plan review;
Access to exclusive estate planning maintenance workshops;
Unlimited changes to durable powers of attorney [link to Power of Attorney Documents page];
Unlimited changes to medical powers of attorney; and
Timely updates on all relevant changes to the law that may impact your estate plan.

COVID-19 UPDATE: Emergency Estate Planning Decisions to Make Right Now

Published on: March 13, 2020 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

6a019b003fe4d5970b025d9b3d243e200c-600wi-300x143 “Don’t panic” has been a common refrain from government leaders, public health professionals, and across social media from well-meaning people trying to keep everyone calm during the coronavirus pandemic.

Though it may be hard not to panic when the grocery store shelves are empty, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 keeps rising, and we see sobering statistics across the globe … we will not overcome this challenge with a panicked response.

Nonetheless, there are certain things we all need to be doing right now – and your public health officials are the best resource on how to stay personally safe and help prevent the virus from spreading.

How Can I Use My Life Insurance to Give to Charity?

Published on: April 1, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

“Financial planning is an ongoing process that examines your goals, situation and finances, in order to determine if and how these goals can be met. It’s not a product-centric process, but often we use financial products like mutual funds, annuities and/or life insurance to achieve goals in the most efficient manner.”

As Forbes explains in the article “2 Ways To Combine Charitable Giving And Life Insurance,” one of the core products for protecting wealth is life insurance. As you age, your need for life insurance may lessen, but sometimes it will increase. If you have a life insurance policy that you no longer need, one option might be to donate the policy to a charity. There are several ways that life insurance policies can be gifted or used for charitable purposes.

Gift Your Existing Policy. You can simply give away an existing policy, if you no longer need the policy for estate liquidity or estate taxes. You could gift the policy outright to your favorite charity or use a Donor Advised Fund (DAF). If you give the policy to a charity outright, you can change ownership of the policy and pretty much be done with it. You might get a charitable income tax deduction for the value of the policy at the time of the gift (it’s measured by the sum of the interpolated terminal reserve plus unearned premiums rather than the death benefit amount).

A New Year is a Gift – Treat Time as a Valuable, Limited Resource

Published on: February 3, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

It’s already February! What happened to the holidays? What happened to January?

On the first of January, we each received the gift of 525,600 minutes—plus we get a bonus of 1,440 minutes because it's a leap year with an extra day, February 29. By the time you read this, more than 41,760 minutes will have passed this year, and we can't get them back.

They're gone. Forever.

NFL Players Now Have Support Network to Ease into Civilian Life

Published on: December 2, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The transition from pro football to civilian life is easier for NFL players who can get assistance from a comprehensive support program created by the NFL and the NFL Players Association. The program recognizes the challenges facing retired football players as they shift to life without football. Many have no experience handling finances or coping with emotions of day-to-day living.

A recent article in The Employee Benefit News, "NFL aims to keep players financially fit," describes "The Trust," which officially launched in 2013. It's an extensive financial wellness program that includes education, lifestyle, health, and career services. It has helped about 1,000 former players each year.

Players who enroll are assigned a case manager who identifies their key issues. Then The Trust and its service partners devise a customized "game plan" that tells the player where he is financially, where he should be, and how to get there. A critical part of the program works to create a community for these retired players where they share their personal stories with each other and mentor others who are in need.

Retirement Planning Should Be Main Goal in 2016

Published on: November 30, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

uilding a nest egg is an important goal for Americans, yet most Americans lag behind in their retirement planning goals. Many families are still recovering from economic downturns, and saving is a struggle, even for people who are over 50 and know they should do more. There are certain tax breaks and, if you are lucky enough to work for a great company, employer contributions that can help grow your retirement savings in 2016.

US News explains how to take full advantage of the 401(k) and individual retirement account perks you're eligible for in 2016 in "How to Maximize Your Retirement Accounts in 2016."

Max out your 401(k). You can contribute up to $18,000 to your 401(k) plan in 2016, which means saving $1,500 per month. Income tax isn't due on this money until it is withdrawn from the account.

IRS No Longer Accepts Checks Exceeding $100 Million

Published on: September 23, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

If you are planning to issue your next $100 million tax payment to the IRS via check, better make arrangements for an alternate payment method. The IRS has announced that it will no longer accept payments by check in excess of $100 million.

In the modern grocery store, scanners are used by people who bag their own groceries and pay with a swipe of a credit card. Express lines ferret out the quick buyers from the people stocking their homes for the next six months. Despite these advances and time saving technology, there’s one thing that drives everyone on the checkout line crazy.

That is when a person in front of them pays with a check.