Probate Administration

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...

02 Aug SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH – HOW TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM THEMSELVES YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE WEALTHY TO USE TRUSTS

Posted at 09:00h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Probate Administration, Retirement, Short Term Care, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Success Story of the Month, Trusts, Wills

Many have the misconception that only the wealthy need or can use trusts for estate planning. In this case, an elderly couple has two children – one of the children has a drug problem and the other is a spendthrift and has creditor issues. The...

01 Aug BINGO! ELIZABETH HURLEY’S SON DINGS GRANDFATHER BING FOR MILLIONS DESPITE BEING BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK

Posted at 13:57h in Beneficiary, Business, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Probate Administration

A California court has ruled that Elizabeth Hurley’s son, Damian, remain a beneficiary of the trust of his grandfather, Dr. Peter Bing, notwithstanding Dr. Bing’s attempt to change the terms of the trust that he established. Another grandchild, Kira Kerkorian, also benefits from this ruling. Dr....

04 Jun SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH – PROTECTING THE LOAN ON PARENTS’ HOME FROM MEDICAID ESTATE RECOVERY – LADYBIRD TO THE RESCUE

Posted at 19:44h in Asset Protection, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Probate Administration, Success Story of the Month, Taxes, Transfer of Death, Wills

Parents own homestead as their major asset. Their health is beginning to decline, and neither of them have long-term care insurance or enough income or assets to pay for long-term care. As a result, if either of them needs long-term care, Medicaid is likely to...

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 LEGALITY VS. MORALITY

Posted at 15:39h in Beneficiary, Disability Benefits, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Inheritance, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Probate Administration

Sometimes clients ask questions where the answer differs as to legality versus morality. As a result, the attorney should be prepared to be both counselor at law and not just an attorney at law. A couple examples of actual cases (all dealing with an inheritance) illustrate...

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 Apr DILEMMA FOR SOME DISABLED – ARE YOU READY, WILLING FOR ABLE? PROS AND CONS OF SPECIAL NEEDS TRUSTS VS ABLE ACCOUNTS

Posted at 19:47h in Beneficiary, Disability Benefits, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Probate Administration, Special Needs, Special Needs Trust, Trusts, utma

The federal law called the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act gives some people with disabilities or their families to establish a tax-free savings account that will not count as a resource for Medicaid eligibility (which is “means-tested”). For an adult disabled person who...

11 Apr PROPOSED LEGISLATION ALLOWS COURT ORDER TO DISCLOSE DIGITAL ASSETS

Posted at 19:31h in Asset Protection, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Probate Administration

Do you bank online? Do you have a Facebook, Twitter or Linked In account? Do you have an app such as Shutterfly? What about Bitcoins? These are all examples of digital assets (see our article about estate planning issues concerning digital assets by clicking here). As a...

11 Apr CASE OF THE MONTH – DOOR #1 OR DOOR #2?

Posted at 19:30h in End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Long Term Care, Medicaid Application, Medicaid Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Nursing Home, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Transfer of Death

Dad, a nursing home resident in a facility that accepts Medicaid, owns highly appreciated out of state real estate that has been in the family for decades and approximately $100,000 of cash. The goals are to protect the real estate, have governmental assistance in paying...