Blog
Articles and updates from our family of firms on tax, probate, business, and related topics.
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Owe the IRS but Can’t Tap Home Equity to Pay?
A taxpayer falls behind on his taxes. Life happens. A spouse gets sick, a house goes into foreclosure, and the bills pile up. When the IRS sends a notice threatening to seize assets, the taxpayer says what feels obvious. I cannot pay this. That sounds like it should be the end of the matter. If……
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When the Neighbor Who Saved Your Home Dies: Executor Duties, Mortgage Notices, and the Limits of Fiduciary Loyalty in Texas Probate
Most people never think about what happens to a mortgage when the borrower dies. The house sits there. The payments stop. And someone—usually a grieving family member who has just been named executor—has to figure out what comes next. For anyone with an informal arrangement tied to that mortgage, the uncertainty can feel like a…
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IRS Levy for a Debt It Already Agreed to Payment Over Time?
Most people think a tax debt is a tax debt. You owe the money, the IRS collects it, and that is the end of the story. But there is often more than one legal mechanism the government can use to collect the same dollars. Sometimes those mechanisms overlap. That overlap can create problems. Suppose the……
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Motion to Dissolve Injunction Texas: Why Courts Won’t Let You Relitigate the Original Order
Imagine you are a commercial landlord in Harris County. Your tenant has an option to purchase the property at the end of the lease, and the relationship has soured. You want the tenant out. A district court grants a temporary injunction blocking you from pursuing eviction, and you decide to wait, assuming the trial is…
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When a Bankruptcy Filing Doesn’t Save Your Property Claim: A Texas Title Dispute Resolved Through an Old “Affidavit of Transfer”
Picture this: a mother pays off a house over decades, lives in it, maintains it, and raises her family there, all while the original buyer’s name sits in the county property records. Then, years later, that original buyer files for bankruptcy and claims the house as her homestead exemption. What felt like a settled family…
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Married Filing Separate, Community Property Reduction
Most small business owners think of their income as their own. You do the work. You bill the client. The money lands in your account. So when the IRS audits you and says you left income off your return, it feels like a problem that belongs to you alone. But that is not always how……
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When a Third Party on Deed Derails Your Texas Divorce: What Happens When the Marital Home Has a Co-Owner
Picture a married couple who buys a home together, builds equity over the years, and then splits up. When the divorce starts, the house is the most valuable thing on the table, so everyone assumes the fight will be about how to divide the equity. Then someone notices a third name on the deed. A…
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Lose the Hobby Loss Fight, But Save the Farm
Most people who run a side venture know the IRS can be a difficult business partner. It happily takes a cut when the venture makes money. It often refuses to share in the pain when the venture loses money. The hobby loss rules are one of the tools the IRS uses to do this. So……
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When One Spouse’s Fraud Keeps the IRS Clock Open for Both
Married couples file a joint tax return because it is usually the easy choice. One return, one signature line for each spouse, one refund or one balance due. The convenience is real. So is the shared responsibility that comes with it. Most people understand that signing a joint return means both spouses are on the……
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When Your Agent Can’t Refuse: Durable Power of Attorney and Service of Process in Texas
Most people sign a durable power of attorney with incapacity in mind. They want someone they trust to manage their affairs if they no longer can. Few stop to think that the same document, once signed and recorded, can also decide how and where a plaintiff serves them with a lawsuit. In Texas, a statutory…