Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer |

31 Oct THREE WAYS ATATIANA JEFFERSON’S FAMILY FEUD OVER HER FUNERAL COULD HAVE BEEN BURIED

Posted at 09:00h in End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Notarizations, Probate Administration, Wills

The family feud over the funeral of Atatiana Jefferson, a black woman killed by a white Ft. Worth police officer in October, could have likely been prevented if she either had left written instructions in a (1) Will; (2) pre-need funeral contract; or (3) Disposition...

26 Aug JEFFREY EPSTEIN’S WILL – FIVE LEGAL ISSUES LEFT TO BE DECIDED

Posted at 09:00h in Elder Justice, Estate Planning, Lawsuits, Notarizations, Probate Administration, Short Term Care, Taxes, Transfer of Death, Wills

Jeffrey Epstein’s signing of a Will two days before his suicide leaves many legal issues that may take more than a decade to decide. By creating a “pour-over Will” into a trust he created, we know that he has planned for privacy on who are...

06 Aug ELECTRONIC WILLS ACT APPROVED BY UNIFORM LAW COMMISSIONERS

Posted at 09:00h in Estate Planning, Notarizations, Probate Administration, Texas Bar Today Top 10 Blog Posts, Wills

On July 17, 2019, the Uniform Law Commission passed an act allowing probate courts to validate Wills electronically signed by a testator and witnesses. Texas law does not presently permit electronic signing and witnessing of Wills due to special signing requirements to make sure the Will...

04 Jun FIVE COMMON MISTAKES AT WILL SIGNING

Posted at 14:24h in Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Notarizations, Probate Administration, Wills

Mistakes made during the signing of a Will are frequently the cause of litigation. Some of the common mistakes are as follows: Attorney should handle the Will signing ceremony. Although it is not required by law that an attorney handle the ceremony, the probability of error is...

01 May WILL BY BLINKING OF EYES APPROVED BY COURT

Posted at 15:28h in End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Notarizations, Probate Administration, Texas Bar Today Top 10 Blog Posts, Wills

The Will of a quadriplegic man (the “Testator”), who was unable to speak and who communicated with his attorney through a blinking system, was recently upheld by a Fort Worth appellate court. The attorney asked “yes” or “no” questions to the Testator who responded by blinking....

11 Jul SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH – WHERE THERE IS A BAD WILL, THERE IS A WAY

Posted at 19:15h in Beneficiary, Divorce, Estate Planning, Notarizations, Probate Administration, Short Term Care, Success Story of the Month, Wills

Husband and wife (2nd marriage for each and both having children of prior marriage) purchase real estate together, but they fail to deed it into their joint revocable trust that they signed twenty years ago. Since the property wasn’t deeded into the trust, there was need...

13 Nov ONLINE NOTARIZATION COMING TO TEXAS IN 2018

Posted at 11:00h in Business, Estate Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Notarizations

Online notarization, whereby a notarial act is performed by means of two-way video and audio conference that meets standards for credential analysis and identity proofing as well as standards for equipment, security and certain technology, will be permitted in Texas as of July 1, 2018....