Estate Planning Attorney

There are rules that govern what the executor can and cannot pay themselves, but often the only way to resolve a dispute between the executor and heirs is litigation. Here’s an example of what happens when things don’t go as planned in estate planning. A parent dies, and has left everything to his two children,…

Probate is one of a handful of questions that are routinely asked by clients new to the estate planning process. Figuring out who to name as an executor for your estate and naming guardians for minor children are also concerns. Finally, a bigger conversation about whether or not you can use a form from the…

No longer the exclusive territory of the super-wealthy, today even regular people use pet trusts to create a legal and financial safety net for their companion animals, while providing peace of mind. If your household includes pets, whether they have fur, feathers or fins, you can use a pet trust to protect pets when you…

Once your estate plan is in place, there are several issues you don’t have to worry about. That  is a good enough reason to move forward with your estate plan. Death and dying are nowhere near as fun to think about planning a vacation, redecorating the house or taking the dog for a walk. In…

Eight years after his death, the tax liability from Jackson’s estate has not been resolved. The numbers are big, and adding up fast. “Depending on the outcome of the case, Jackson’s estate could be on the hook for more than $500 million in taxes and $200 million in penalties…” U.S. Tax Court Judge Mark Holmes…

When considering an estate plan, it is usually wiser to deal with an estate planning attorney. My San Antonio recently published the article “‘Trust mill’ scam hits elderly hard” explaining why the elderly need to be on the lookout for scams. According to the article, a reader wrote in to ask questions about an estate…

When it comes to investment accounts, the answer is usually pretty simple. They belong in your trust. Investment accounts are the one class of assets that should almost always go into your trust, according to The Herald Bulletin in “If you have a trust, that’s where your investments should go.” When an experienced estate planning…

John F. Kennedy once said that “the time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining”. In the world of estate planning, we call this preparing for a rainy day. Life often brings in the unexpected storm, but if we’ve made sure that our roof is solid, weathering that storm is always easier.…