There are so many ways to transfer assets upon someone’s death. Texas now permits virtually all property, real property and otherwise, to be transferred by a right to survivorship deed or agreement. Tax deferred accounts such as IRAs and 401Ks can be transferred by beneficiary designations. Life insurance policies have always had beneficiary designations. Bank [...]
A Revocable Living Trust is a useful estate planning tool that solves problems for some people, including the ability to avoid probate when probate might be excessively cumbersome or expensive. The trust avoids probate if all the trust maker’s assets are transferred into the trust prior to death, so that the trust rules determine what [...]
If you are a beneficiary of an estate, but you have not received your inheritance, you may rightfully be concerned whether the executor or administrator of the estate is ripping you off. What can you do? If the administrator or executor has not been finally appointed, but has merely filed an application, it might be [...]
Nobody wants to see their estate plan contested upon their passing, so can you tell in advance that your plan is likely to be contested? What most people think of as a Will contest is a disgruntled heir who receives substantially less than others contending that the Will is totally invalid. Unless you have made [...]
Once you have completed your estate plan with your attorney, should you have a family meeting? In most cases, it is probably a good idea talk with the persons you have appointed in the various roles. You should have appointed a financial agent, a medical agent, an executor for a Will, and possibly guardians [...]
If you are over 65, you can choose to defer paying your property taxes on your homestead. This almost sounds too good to be true, but realize, it is a deferral of taxes, not a forgiveness of them. However, if we could defer all of our taxes until we die that would be a dream. [...]
Spring is in the air, so what is that foul odor? Could it be the stench coming from your property tax reappraisal? It is true that death and taxes are inevitable, but property taxes are particularly inescapable. Somehow, someway, somebody is going to pay the property taxes on your house or other real estate. Property [...]
I know, tax stuff is boring, unless you are having to pay taxes you shouldn’t. So, today, I’m going to address a great tax benefit of property passing through estates, and why you don’t want to lose that benefit. We are going to talk about the “step up basis” rules. A taxpayer's basis is usually [...]
Regardless of whether you use Revocable Living Trusts, Wills, and Powers of Attorney to accomplish your estate planning, a key decision is who to trust to make your financial and medical decisions. The person who makes your medical decisions is your medical power of attorney. The person who makes your financial decisions is either your [...]
Dual income couples often keep their finances separate. Separate bank accounts, separate investment accounts, separately titled cars, and almost anything else other than the homestead. Are these separately-titled properties separate property of the respective spouses? The hallmark rule of community property is that the character of the property (whether it is community or separate) is [...]