Blended families are common across Texas. When a stepparent steps into a parental role and raises a child as their own, the emotional bonds formed can be just as strong as those between biological parents and children. However, Texas law draws a sharp distinction between stepchildren and legally adopted children when it comes to inheritance…
Tag: probate litigation
Mental Capacity & Property Transfers Shortly Before an Incapacity Declaration
It can be difficult to care for elderly parents when they begin showing signs of cognitive decline. Families often try to manage their affairs. This may include getting appointed as the guardian of the parent. Before being appointed, there can be questions about whether the parent can still make major financial decisions. The stakes rise…
Provision in a Will that Allows the Family to Dispose of Assets Mean that the Entire Family Inherits?
As probate attorneys, we see a lot of wills that just don’t cut it. We see everything from wills that fail to name executors, that fail to mention anything about death or dying, that fail to have witness signatures, etc. While we get that folks like to save a few dollars and skip the estate…
Does Partial Victory in Probate Litigation Guarantee Attorney Fee Recovery?
Family disputes over estates often involve multiple fronts of litigation. A will contest might accompany challenges to beneficiary designations. Claims of undue influence might target both probate and non-probate assets. When the dust settles and the jury delivers a mixed verdict, upholding the will but invalidating an IRA designation, who pays the legal bills? This…
Can Federal Courts Resolve POD Account Disputes Despite the Probate Exception?
Payable-on-death (“POD”) accounts pass directly to named beneficiaries upon death through the contract with the financial institution. Probate court would seem the natural fit when disputes arise over who validly changed those designations. When someone dies, leaving bank accounts behind, family members typically expect the probate court to oversee the distribution of the funds. But…
Undue Influence Claims Texas Probates for Late-Life Remarriage and Relationships
Last minute estate plan changes often result in disputes. These disputes often involve situations where a elderly and newly widowed parent remarries or finds a new romantic partner quickly after their spouse’s death. There are often questions by the adult children about whether the new spouse or partner gained influence over the parents’ finances, particularly…
A Common Probate Challenge: Voiding Real Estate Deeds Based on Mental Incapacity
A family member signs over her home to a grandchild. Weeks later, she’s declared legally incapacitated. The family questions whether she truly understood what she was doing when she signed. But here’s the challenge: nobody performed a mental evaluation on the exact day she signed the deed. Does that mean the deed stands? This scenario…
What Secured Creditors Lose When They Miss the 90-Day Deadline in Dependent Administrations
When someone dies owing you money secured by real property, you face important choices about how to collect. You hold a lien on the property itself. But what if the property doesn’t sell for enough to cover the full debt plus all accrued interest, late fees, and attorney’s fees? Can you pursue the estate for…
Can You Remove a Trust Dispute from Probate Court to the New Texas Business Court?
The Texas legislature created business courts to handle litigation cases involving business matters. The jurisdiction and scope of cases the courts can hear has not been fully fleshed out yet. Since many probate estates and trusts include family-controlled partnerships and LLCs, this begs the question as to whether these disputes should be litigated in probate…