Family relationships can fray after someone dies. Money and property have a way of bringing out the worst in people. Sometimes the conflict escalates beyond angry words at the funeral or tense meetings with the lawyer. What happens when the person named as executor in the will has committed violence against another family member who…
Category: Probate Law
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…
Is a Brokerage Account Form that is Altered to add a “Survivorship” Designation Valid?
Married couples often rely on bank or brokerage representatives to handle the paperwork when they set up their accounts. The spouses may sign forms and then discuss the types of accounts or authorizations after they have already signed the forms. This begs the question as sto what happens when there is evidence that boxes on…
Is a Signature on Page Attached to a Will Valid?
When a loved one passes away in Texas, their will typically undergoes routine probate proceedings. Most wills follow a predictable format—several pages of bequests and instructions, concluding with a signature line where the testator signs above their printed name, followed by witness signatures. But what happens when the testator’s signature appears somewhere unexpected, perhaps on…
Attorneys Fees for Will Contests: The Good Faith Requirement
When a parent passes away leaving behind a blended family, the stage is often set for conflict. Children from different marriages may have vastly different relationships with the deceased parent, and estate planning documents sometimes reflect these complicated dynamics. Now imagine discovering that your mother’s will explicitly excludes you while including your siblings and step-siblings,…
Terms in Will for Older Trusts Controlled, Property did not Pass to Newer Trusts
When a loved one passes away, their carefully crafted estate plan should provide clear direction for distributing their assets. But what happens when the beneficiaries named in a will no longer exist by the time of death? This seemingly straightforward question becomes complex when dealing with trusts that terminated decades before the testator’s passing, yet…
When Can Probate Litigation be Dismissed Under Anti-SLAPP Laws?
A mixed family and a late marriage are often ingredients for a probate dispute. This is especially true when there are signs of mental decline and the new spouse appeared and quickly became the primary beneficiary. When these red flags combine with a will that dramatically changes long-standing estate plans, surviving family members face a…