Elderly adults often become targets for theft by the very people hired to help them. Caregivers gain access to homes and personal belongings. They steal money and valuables. Important documents like wills often vanish during these thefts. The documents may be destroyed accidentally or lost in the chaos that follows systematic exploitation. It can create…
Category: Probate Law
When False Testimony About Parentage Derails Texas Estate Distribution
Blended families face unique challenges when a loved one dies without a will in Texas. Step-parents, step-children, and biological children have to navigate complex inheritance rules that depend heavily on family relationships. The stakes can be very higher when community property is involved. Distribution of community property can shift between a surviving spouse and children…
Choice-of-Law Provisions in Trusts are Not Just Boilerplate
Estate planning attorneys routinely include choice-of-law provisions in trust documents. They often defaulti to the state where the trust is created or where the attorney practices. These provisions might seem like boilerplate language, but they can profoundly impact beneficiaries’ rights decades later. The governing law determines everything from modification procedures to information rights, and these…
Are Inherited Retirement Plans Distributed per Texas Law or ERISA?
Most married couples assume that when one spouse dies, their retirement assets will automatically pass to the surviving spouse. But what happens when both spouses die within days of each other? Do Texas survival statutes requiring a beneficiary to survive the deceased by 120 hours apply to ERISA retirement plans? Or do the plan documents…
Contesting a Will After Filing a Waiver in the Probate
Your parent dies and you and your sibling are on good terms. There is a will. You agree that the will is valid. Your sibling is named as the executor in the will. To help facilitate and speed up the probate of the will, you sign a waiver consenting to the will being probated. This…
When Half-Sibling DNA Testing Establishes Texas Inheritance Rights
Families facing the loss of a loved one often confront unexpected challenges in the probate process. This is specially true when there is no will. This is also especially true for children born outside of marriage. This is also especially true with Texas probates, given the advanced body of probate law in Texas. These children…
Can a Guardian of a Minor Extend Control Beyond the Ward’s 18th Birthday?
When a minor turns 18, Texas law typically requires the prompt termination of guardianship and the transfer of assets to the new adult. Yet some guardians find ways to maintain control over assets months or even years after the ward reaches adulthood. Through procedural maneuvers like motions for new trial and appeals, guardians can extend…
Nursing Home Negligence Cases: The Importance of Expert Reports
Nursing home negligence cases often begin with a family’s discovery that their loved one suffered preventable harm while under medical care. These discoveries are often not made until after the loved one dies. When this happens, Texas law provides specific procedures for holding healthcare providers accountable. A cornerstone of these procedures is the expert report…
When Heirs Want to Partition but Executors Want to Sell
A father dies and leaves his real estate to his two daugthers. One daughter wants to divide up and keep the property and the other daughter wants to sell the entire property. To make it more complicated, the daughter who wants to sell the property is the independent administrator under the father’s will. Is the…