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Reasons to Avoid the Probate Process
What's Probate? Probate refers to the process by which a court legally acknowledges an individual’s death and authorizes administration of their estate. Estate administration involves management of the deceased’s estate, payment of the deceased’s debts, and...
Protect your Pet’s Future with Effective Estate Planning
Pets are one of the most beloved things we can have in our lives, and often times we wish to protect them just like we would any other loved one in the event of our death. Fortunately, there is a way to do just that—setting up a Pet Trust allows you to lay out...
Importance of Finding a Lawyer for Estate Planning
Sawyer and Emily's Story Sawyer Hartford and his business partner were looking to invest $75,000 in creating and developing a new app that would help facilitate e-commerce transactions. Then they found Emily, a young, intelligent, and extremely qualified app developer...
Protect Your Loved Ones’ Inheritance with LAPT
Don Carey's Story Don Carey died at the age of 78 with three surviving sons, all of whom were in an ongoing battle with addiction at the time of his death. Wanting to care for his sons in the event of his death, Don included a provision to his trust that stated that...
Marital Property in Texas
Texas is a community-property state, meaning that all marital property is characterized as “separate,” “community,” or “mixed.” Under Texas law, a spouse’s separate property consists of the property “owned or claimed by the spouse before marriage; acquired by the...
How to Avoid The Loss Of Your Assets Upon Death?
Fortunately, there is a way to avoid such asset loss through effective estate planning with tools such as a living trust with protective language. How to avoid the loss of your assets? By setting up a living trust and placing all of your assets into the trust, you can...
Intestacy in Texas: Distribution Without a Will
When an individual dies without a valid will, they are considered to have died “intestate.” Intestacy statutes are considered default statutes, and they govern the distribution of a decedent’s probate assets when no valid will exists. This means that some of your...
How Probate Can End in Foreclosure
Hannah and Jared's Story Hannah and Jared were happily married for years and Hannah had become a part of Jared’s family; so much so that Jared’s parents, Rose and Lionel, had named Hannah as the Executor of both of their wills. They had no other estate planning...
Never Transfer Your Assets to Your Spouse’s Name
Ashley and Jon's Story Ashley and Jon met in their first year of college and eagerly wed within weeks of their graduation. Ashley accepted a job as a dental assistant, and Jon went on to earn his M.D. and became a well-known physician in the area just a few years...
Components of an Effective Estate Plan
There are many different instruments and documents that can be included in an individual’s estate planning portfolio, such as a last will and testament, revocable living trusts, testamentary trusts, and more. However, there are five (5) key components that should be...