Houston Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney Blog

Password Managers, Crypto Keys, and Cloud Archives—Drafting Digital-Asset Instructions for Travis County Estates

Published on: January 22, 2026 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

Password Managers, Crypto Keys, and Cloud Archives—Drafting Digital-Asset Instructions for Travis County Estates

Your life now lives online: email, cloud drives, photo libraries, banking apps, social media, password managers, and perhaps cryptocurrency wallets. Without clear instructions, loved ones can be locked out for months, losing irreplaceable memories and, in the case of crypto, real money. Travis County courts respect digital-asset directives when they are written correctly. If you build a practical kit into your estate plan, your executor or trustee can access what you own, protect your privacy, and move quickly without violating service contracts.

Start With an Inventory You Can Actually Maintain

A digital inventory should be short and structured. Create a spreadsheet with columns for service name, purpose, account email, recovery phone, and where credentials are stored—not the credentials themselves. Include your password manager account (1Password, Bitwarden, Keeper, or similar) and the location of your emergency kit or recovery codes. Add financial apps, cloud storage (Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox), photo services, domain registrars, crypto exchanges, and any self-custody wallets. Review quarterly; digital life shifts faster than bank accounts do.

Community-Property Survivorship Agreements for Austin Transplants—A Simple Way to Keep Assets Out of Probate

Published on: January 19, 2026 | By David W. Miller

Moving to Austin brings new routines, new licenses, and—if you are married—new rules about property. Texas is a community-property state, which means most assets you and your spouse acquire during marriage belong to both of you. With one short document, a Community-Property Survivorship Agreement, you can turn that shared ownership into a fast, probate-skipping transfer at the first spouse’s death. If you are a transplant from a common-law state, this tool may be the simplest upgrade you make to your estate plan.

What a Community-Property Survivorship Agreement Does

A survivorship agreement says that community property will pass to the surviving spouse by right of survivorship, similar to joint tenancy with right of survivorship in other states. When one spouse dies, the survivor owns the property outright without waiting for court orders. Title companies recognize the agreement, and your survivor can sell, refinance, or retitle without opening a full probate just to move a home or bank account.

Portability Made Practical for Houston Couples—How to Capture the DSUE Amount After the First Spouse’s Death

Published on: January 14, 2026 | By David W. Miller

If you are married, federal estate tax “portability” lets the survivor use any unused estate tax exemption from the first spouse to die. That carryover—called the deceased spouse’s unused exclusion (DSUE)—can be worth millions of dollars in tax savings for your family. The catch is simple but strict: you must file a timely estate tax return for the first spouse, even when no tax is due. With a little planning, you can secure the DSUE and keep options open for wealth transfers, business exits, and home sales down the road.

Understand What Portability Really Gives You

Each spouse has a federal estate and gift tax exemption. When the first spouse dies, any unused exemption can be “ported” to the survivor. The survivor adds that DSUE to their own exemption, increasing the amount they can transfer during life or at death without federal estate tax. Portability pairs well with Houston families whose wealth sits in homes, retirement accounts, closely held companies, or life insurance trusts that may grow over time.

Protecting Homestead Equity With Lady Bird Deeds in Houston—Avoiding MERP Claims and Probate Delays

Published on: January 11, 2026 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

Protecting Homestead Equity With Lady Bird Deeds in Houston—Avoiding MERP Claims and Probate Delays

Your Houston homestead may be the most valuable and emotionally important asset you own. You want your family to keep it, avoid long court delays, and steer clear of unexpected Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) claims. A Texas enhanced life estate deed—often called a Lady Bird deed—can help you do all three when it is drafted and recorded correctly.

Understand What a Lady Bird Deed Actually Does

A Lady Bird deed transfers your home to a named beneficiary automatically at your death, yet you keep full control during life. You can sell, refinance, lease, or even revoke the deed without asking the remainder beneficiary for permission. Because title passes outside probate, your executor does not need a court order to move the house to your heir. That speed reduces carrying costs, prevents insurance lapses, and keeps the property out of probate delays that can stretch for months.

Executor Personal Liability Risks in Texas Probate Cases

Published on: January 6, 2026 | By David W. Miller

Serving as an executor can feel like an administrative job until something goes wrong. In Texas probate, an executor can face personal liability if they mishandle estate funds, fail to follow required procedures, or treat estate property as their own for temporary use. Most executors are family members doing their best. Even so, good intentions do not erase fiduciary duties, and conflicts often arise when beneficiaries believe decisions were rushed, undocumented, or self-serving.

Texas also makes it easy to underestimate risk because independent administration reduces court supervision. Less supervision can speed things up, yet it also means an executor has to self-police deadlines, accounting, and decision-making without a judge checking each step.

Texas Executor Fiduciary Duties

Outdated Powers of Attorney and Financial Institutions Refusing to Honor Them in Texas

Published on: January 2, 2026 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

A power of attorney often sits quietly in a drawer until a crisis hits. A parent has a stroke. A spouse starts showing signs of memory loss. A hospital discharge plan requires financial decisions right away. Families show up at a bank or brokerage firm with a signed document and expect the next step to be simple. Refusals happen more often than people expect, especially when the power of attorney is old, missing key language, or does not match what a financial institution wants to see.

Texas law provides tools to reduce this risk, including statutory forms and rules governing acceptance. The practical goal is to avoid delays that can disrupt care, housing, and day-to-day stability when time already feels tight.

Texas Power of Attorney Refusals by Banks and Brokerage Firms

Ancillary Probate from Dallas for Mineral Interests in Oklahoma and New Mexico

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

Many Dallas families own mineral interests across state lines. When the owner dies, operators will not transfer division orders based solely on a Texas probate. You need ancillary steps in the state where the minerals sit. With a coordinated plan, you can satisfy Oklahoma and New Mexico requirements quickly, keep royalties flowing, and avoid suspended payments.

Start with a Texas Foundation

Open the domiciliary probate in Dallas County first. Obtain letters testamentary and certified copies of the order admitting the will. Create a mineral schedule listing legal descriptions, operator names, API numbers for wells, and current division orders. This foundational packet becomes your exhibit set for each state.

Choosing Dependent Administration in Dallas When Siblings Don’t Agree

Published on: December 26, 2025 | By Thomas W. McCulloch

Family friction can stop probate in its tracks. When siblings distrust each other, dependent administration—where the court supervises most major steps—can restore order. In Dallas County, this structure trades speed for certainty. If you pick it on purpose, you protect the executor, calm beneficiaries, and keep the estate on a track everyone can follow.

Why Court Oversight Helps

In dependent administration, sales, claim payments, and distributions require court approval. That means appraisals, notices, and orders go into the file. The process costs more and takes longer, yet the transparency reduces accusations of favoritism and self-dealing. For estates with contested assets, unclear debts, or vulnerable beneficiaries, the oversight is worth the extra work.

Probate Sales with HOA, PID, and Special Assessment Liens in the Dallas Metro

Published on: December 20, 2025 | By David W. Miller

Selling estate property in the Dallas area often means more than paying off a mortgage. HOA liens, Public Improvement District (PID) assessments, Municipal Utility District (MUD) charges, and special assessments can complicate closings. If you identify and manage these liens early, you protect price, avoid delays, and keep buyers confident.

Order Title and Read Every Schedule

As soon as you have authority, order a title commitment. Study Schedule B for HOA declarations, assessment liens, and PID notices. Pull the resale certificate or PID disclosure and note transfer fees, caps, and balances. Create a payoff worksheet listing each lienholder, the account number, and contact information. When you know the encumbrances, you can negotiate from a position of clarity.

When a Will Lacks a Self-Proving Affidavit in Dallas County

Published on: December 17, 2025 | By David W. Miller

A self-proving affidavit lets a Texas will be admitted without witness testimony. If a Dallas County will lacks that affidavit, you can still admit it—you just need more preparation. With the right witnesses, documents, and courtroom plan, you will convert a paper gap into a smooth prove-up.

Find and Prep the Attesting Witnesses

A Texas attested will has two witnesses who saw the testator sign. Track them down using the will’s signature block, law firm records, social media, or people-search tools. Ask each witness to confirm identity, capacity, and voluntariness. Share a short outline: how they knew the testator, where the signing occurred, and who else was present. Offer to meet at the courthouse on the hearing date and arrange for IDs to present to the clerk.

Start With an Inventory You Can Actually Maintain

What a Community-Property Survivorship Agreement Does

Understand What Portability Really Gives You

Understand What a Lady Bird Deed Actually Does

​Texas Executor Fiduciary Duties

Texas Power of Attorney Refusals by Banks and Brokerage Firms

Texas Executor Fiduciary Duties