Our practice includes a broad range of transactions and litigation in the areas of estate planning, probate, and trust administration.
Our practice does not include guardianship or special needs planning (although we will plan estates of extended family with a special needs member, to coordinate with special needs planning provided by other counsel).
Representative cases include--
Estate Planning:
· Wills and Trusts
o Simple wills
o Contractual wills
o Complex wills, with testamentary trusts, marital deductions and elections
o Qualified domestic trusts (for foreign national spouse)
o "Look-through" trusts (for IRAs)
o Intervivos revocable trusts (living trusts)
o Life insurance trusts
o Powers of appointment
· Ancillary Documents
o Directive to physicians (living wills)
o Medical power of attorney
o Business powers of attorney
▪ General durable power of attorney
▪ Statutory durable power of attorney
o Declaration of guardian (for oneself)
o Declaration of guardian (for children)
o HIPAA Authorization (health care information rights)
o Appointment of agent to control disposition of remains
o Anatomical gifts forms
· Non-Probate Transfers
o Joint account or real estate deed with right of survivorship
o Motor vehicle, boat, and mobile home ownership survivorship title agreements
o Beneficiary designations, including "stretch" (rollover) IRA planning
o Cemetery plots
· Disability Planning
o Bank and brokerage account joint ownership, co-signer, and convenience signer forms
o Intervivos revocable trusts (living trusts)
o Proprietary agency forms (for banker, broker, insurance agent, and investment advisor)
· Blended Family Strategies (second spouse, children from prior marriage)
· Disinheritance Strategies
· Gifting
o Annual exclusion gifts to individuals and trusts
o Generation-skipping gifts to individuals and trusts
o Unlimited gifts to qualified educational providers
o Unlimited gifts to qualified medical providers
o Gifts to foreign national spouses
o Gift and generation-skipping transfer tax returns
o 529 plan strategies
o Real estate gift strategies
o Life insurance on children strategies
o Community foundations
· Asset Protection
o Property Code exemptions
o Third-party trusts
o Testamentary trusts
Health and Safety Code Litigation:
· DNR (do not resuscitate order) rescission
· Medical futility review
· Control of decedent's remains
Probate and Other Estate Administration:
· Will probates
· Intestate administration
· Dependent and independent administration
· Muniment of title
· Ancillary administration
· Affidavits of heirship
· Family settlement agreements
· Tax issues
o Gift and estate tax returns
o Federal estate tax lien resolution
o IRA rollovers
o Tax controversy (decedent underreported income or taxable gifts)
· Beneficiary representation
o Qualified disclaimers
o Homestead exemption, family allowance, and community property enforcement
o Will contests
o Accounting demands and fiduciary litigation
· Debtor rights (defense of creditor's lien or claim against decedent's estate)
· Creditor rights (lien foreclosure or collection of claim from decedent's estate)
· Unclaimed property location
Trust Administration:
· Trust agreements
· Testamentary trusts
· Trust funding (including tax-planned trusts)
· Trust amendments
· Trust modifications (judicial and non-judicial)
· Trust termination
· Accounting demands and fiduciary litigation
