Latest Blog Posts

As soon as your child turns 18 you may be legally unable to get important information about their medical conditions or be unable to help them....

If someone in your family is elderly, it may be important to help them manage their financial affairs. But, how do you know when to get involved? Financial abuse of the elderly does exist--and most commonly comes in the form of cashing an elderly person's checks without authorization, forging of a signature or deceiving an older person to sign a document. The elderly are also prone to fraudulent phone scams, especially those who live alone and are starved for conversation....

We all know, at least in theory, that life is unpredictable and that we never know what tomorrow will bring. This eye opening realization was slapped in my face when I almost died in the hospital after giving birth to my first child. I was expecting to hold my baby immediately after his birth, begin breastfeeding and pose for numerous memorable photo opportunities....

It took the United States Supreme Court to hush the cries of a greedy driven estate of a former strip-club dancer. After 15 years, the Anna Nicole Smith case in which she fought for her deceased husband's money, has now come to an end. Anna Nicole's quest has failed. ...

I went to lunch with a friend who had recently divorced. Our luncheon reminded her to get a move on updating her estate plan and other important legal documents. Remember family law attorneys who help clients with divorce most often don't update their clients wills or other estate planning issues. In most cases, divorced couples no longer are interested in their ex-spouse being the beneficiary of their estate. Here are 5 key things to update after your divorce. ...

A terrible story came across my desk one day. Bridget Dick in my office got a call from her brother-in-law needing some legal assistance after his step-father's death. Millions of dollars are on the line and it is currently a mystery as to who will inherit....

Just Because You Have a Trust Doesn't Mean It Will Work the Way It Was Intended Revocable Living Trusts--they are a popular estate planning vehicle for many reasons. But, many of the benefits are not realized if the trust is never actually funded. Its hard to imagine someone paying a lot of money and spending a lot of time to get a revocable living trust set up only to have it not work the way it was intended. But, I see this happen almost every week. If you have a revocable living trust and want the benefits from it--make sure it is funded....

What can I do to make sure I am protected in case I get sued? I've received a lot of questions lately about asset protection. What assets are protected from creditors and what assets aren't protected? As a brief overview, here is what is protected, in general terms, in Texas: your homestead, your retirement accounts, your investments in life insurance, annuities, and $60,000 of personal property. ...

The New Five Million Dollar Estate Tax Exemption Limit in Effect for the Next 2 Years. On December 17, 2010 Congress and President Obama reached a deal on the extension of the Bush era tax cuts. The "2010 Tax Relief Act" changed the estate tax and gift tax for the next two years. For anyone dying in 2011 or 2012, the estate tax exemption amount has increased dramatically to $5 million....

Make Your Family Vacation Home Into a Legacy for Generations to Enjoy. For many of us, the family beach home, ranch or mountain condo is an integral part of our summer traditions. These real estate assets are treasured parts of our family bonding, yet are often under-planned for. I have a dream that our family vacation home will remain part of my children’s lives and remain a positive tradition for generations to come. Yet, without effective legal planning, this dream might as well be just that—a dream and not reality....

An Overall Plan is Worth the Professional Fees. Internet and box wills are being advertised a lot lately. In a way this is good because it encourages people to start planning. However, an internet will won’t be an effective estate plan for most people. One reason in particular is that a will doesn’t control property subject to beneficiary designation or right of survivorship. ...

BUSINESS AND ESTATE PLANNING IS ESSENTIAL FOR ALL SMART FAMILIES If you’re getting married (or remarried). . .Texas is one of a handful of community property states. This means that once you’re married everything you earn is legally half yours and half your spouse's. Half your salary is your spouse’s. Half your spouse’s salary is yours. If you don’t like this automatic default, you can change it by entering into a separate property agreement. ...

ASSET PROTECTION SHOULD BE PART OF YOUR ESTATE PLAN. We spend a lot of time on building and learning how to build our fortunes; unfortunately, we spend very little time and very little is ever taught on the subject of legally protecting our fortunes. Every family should have at least some basic knowledge of how to legally protect your assets....

Probate is a legal process that takes place after someone passes away in order to legally transfer title....

Probate is kind of a mysterious thing. In a lot of states, it is something you want to avoid. I speak with loads of very competent attorneys throughout the United States who only prepare revocable living trusts, and not wills--all so their clients will avoid probate....

As many of my friends and clients know, I have an autistic nephew, R.E. R.E., who is 9 years old, can repeat an entire movie scene to you about 30 times a day. He can run around and around the exterior of his house without stopping over and over and over again. This boy has A LOT of energy. He also has the sweetest disposition, absolutely adores his sister and cousins, and has eyes which will melt you....

Within an LLC, how do you clearly communicate to an investor that they only have a profit’s interest and no input on the operations of the company?...

A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a business structure allowed by state statute. LLCs are popular because, similar to a corporation, owners have limited personal liability for the debts and actions of the LLC. Other features of LLCs are more like a partnership, providing management flexibility and the benefit of pass-through taxation. Owners of an LLC are called members, not shareholders or partners....

I get asked this question a lot: which format is better when forming a new entity, corporation or LLC? For many business owners, the most important legal difference between corporations and LLCs has to do with asset protection. In general terms, LLCs have better asset protection than corporations. Why? Corporations don’t provide charging order protections, while LLCs do. (However, the Nevada corporate statute does provide certain types of privately held corporations with charging order protections.) Charging order protection is a critically important type of business asset protection that LLCs provide but that corporations don’t provide. For many owners of family businesses and estate planning entities, they are extremely important....

'A recent US News and World Report blog succinctly states What you Need to Know About Estate Planning (online at http://www.usnews.com/mobile/blogs/alpha-consumer/2011/9/26/what-you-need-to-know-about-estate-planning.html). Taking excerpts from The Wall Street Journal Complete Estate Planning Guidebook...