Your heirs will appreciate the time you took to plan your estate and examine your options for distributing assets. Failure to do this could jeopardize its value for the people you care about. Knowing how to prepare your estate may not only improve your satisfaction...
Decatur Family Law and Probate Attorney
When is it necessary to update your estate plan?
Estate planning is an ongoing process that will stretch the entirety of your lifetime. Consistently maintaining your plan will enable it to function the way you intend. Forgetting to update your plan can have detrimental consequences that jeopardize its value. Knowing...
What does not belong in your will?
The building block of any effective estate plan is your will. This document will travel through the Texas probate court system, where a judge makes certain the wishes you put in place come to fruition. However, some elements you may think go into a will do not belong...
Improving the effectiveness of your estate plan
Your estate plan can provide security and comfort to your surviving loved ones. Even for you, having a plan in place can help you strategize your future and secure your assets. Overlooking the need to update it periodically may render it inoperable. This preventative...
What are an executor’s tax duties?
Being appointed the executor of an estate comes with many duties, some of which you may not even be aware. For example, one of your duties as an executor is to file income tax returns for the deceased and possibly for their estate. These are two different returns that...
How are attested or holographic wills probated in Texas?
In Fort Worth and the surrounding areas of Texas, conscientious people of all ages will take the necessary step in creating an estate plan. For many, that consists of a will. After they have died, the will needs to go through probate so the testator’s property will be...
Challenging a will in Texas probate court
Most Texans believe that their signature on a will ends the estate planning process and precludes any ill will between relatives who might be expecting a hefty bequest. Unhappily, this expectation commonly frustrated by what is known as a “will contest.” A potential...
What is “probate”?
It can always be difficult when a loved one dies. Not only do close relatives have to go through the emotions and grief of the situation but they also start to worry about the legal issues that need to be resolved in the aftermath of the death of their loved one. And,...
5 tactics car insurance companies use to reduce payouts
There is nothing quite as surprising as finding out that you’re the executor of an estate and did not know you were going to be. It can be difficult to understand what to do or what your obligations really are. As the executor of an estate, you have several...
What happens if you can’t find your mother’s will?
When a parent passes away not only do you have to deal with the tremendous grief of losing a parent, but you often have to deal with their estate. Many Decatur area residents have spent the time to create their estate plan which can make it easier for a family during...
