Blog
Articles and updates from our family of firms on tax, probate, business, and related topics.
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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…
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When the Will Speaks for the Decedent: Contesting an Express Disinheritance Clause in Texas
A disinheritance clause in a witnessed and notarized Texas will carries real weight. So when someone shows up in probate court claiming to be a biological child born outside of marriage and says the will was forged, the question is not just whether they can file the contest. It is whether they have any credible…
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When Are Cryptocurrency Staking Rewards Taxed?
Plenty of people who hold cryptocurrency never sell a single coin. They buy a token, leave it sitting in an account, and watch the balance grow. With some cryptocurrencies, that balance grows on its own. The platform “stakes” the tokens, and new tokens show up in the account every month. The owner does nothing. The……
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Separate Property Mineral Interest in Texas: When a Mineral Swap Defeats a Community Property Claim
Mineral interests pass through Texas probate estates all the time, usually quietly and without a fight. But when the decedent picked up those minerals during marriage through a trade with a family member instead of a cash purchase, whether they were community or separate property stops being routine. The stakes are real. A community property…