Wills

30 May COVID-19 ESTATE PLANNING MODIFICATIONS TO CONSIDER IN CORE DOCUMENTS

Posted at 16:28h in Disability Benefits, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Wills

The coronavirus pandemic has not only resulted in the stark realization of our mortality resulting in a surge in the preparation of wills and trusts, but it has also caused the necessity for review or consider changes to the most basic estate planning documents including...

16 May THE STAMP OF APPROVAL? 5 COMMON MISTAKES OF NOTARIES

Posted at 16:18h in Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Guardianship, Notarizations, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Wills

Although you might think something as simple as the act of notarization would rarely result in a problem, careless errors are frequently made. The following are some of the errors we have recently seen or other common errors in connection with notarization: Failure to require personal...

06 May ‘TIL DEATH DO US PART – MARRIAGE CAN BE VOIDED AFTER DEATH

Posted at 16:13h in Beneficiary, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Quality of Life, Wills

Under Texas law, a surviving spouse has a life estate in the homestead of their deceased souse (see our article entitled “Surviving Spouse Homestead Rights – I Never Want to Fall in Love Again” by clicking here). A life estate gives the surviving spouse the right...

28 Apr KOBE BRYANT’S TRUST IS NO SLAM DUNK

Posted at 16:23h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Trusts, Wills

Although Kobe Bryant’s revocable living trust was carefully drafted for estate and tax planning, the co-trustees (his surviving spouse, Vanessa and Robert Pelinka, Jr.) have filed a Petition to Modify the Trust to add as a beneficiary his youngest child, Capri, who is just nine...

14 Apr PANDEMIC PLANNING IN PERIL: WHERE THERE IS A “WILL”, IS THERE STILL A WAY?

Posted at 15:49h in Beneficiary, Business, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Guardianship, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Notarizations, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Quality of Life, Retirement, Transfer of Death, Trusts, Wills

Coronavirus concerns have resulted in an unprecedented demand for Will planning in America. Even younger Americans are realizing that they are not invincible. Most Americans fail to have even a simple Will leaving the risk of their assets being distributed in accordance with the laws...

31 Mar WILL ONLINE (REMOTE) NOTARIZATIONS BECOME THE NEW “NORM”?

Posted at 14:43h in Business, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Guardianship, Notarizations, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Wills

Italy and China have enforced strict curfews (much stricter than “shelter in place”) in recent months to “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus pandemic. As mentioned in our article “Pandemic Planning in Peril”, the signing of a Will in Texas is particularly difficult at this...

25 Mar SURVIVING SPOUSE HOMESTEAD RIGHTS – I NEVER WANT TO FALL IN LOVE AGAIN

Posted at 17:01h in End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Mortgage, Taxes, Wills

Maya Holmes, a widow, decides to marry her new beau, I.M. Bitterman. Maya has two adult children from her first marriage, Iwanna Eura Holmes and Lo Theng Husbands. Maya owns a homestead as her sole and separate property that she had purchased with her late...

03 Feb SON HOT – SUES OVER DAD’S FROZEN HEAD

Posted at 08:00h in Beneficiary, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Lawsuits, Wills

“They chopped his head off, burned his body, put it in a box and sent it to my house,” stated Kurt Pilegram who has sued cryogenics firm, Alcor Life Extension Foundation (“Alcor”), for a million dollars for emotional distress for what they did to his...

24 Nov JOINT BANK ACCOUNTS – A BLESSING OR A CURSE? NINE REASONS TO NOT USE A JOINT ACCOUNT

Posted at 16:09h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Financial Powers of Attorney, Guardianship, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Nursing Home, Power of Attorney, Probate Administration, Trusts, Wills

Joint bank accounts can be helpful in several ways, but such accounts can also be a trap for the unwary. A couple of the major benefits are as follows: Trusted joint account owner can pay your bills. Probably the most common reason for opening such accounts,...

23 Nov TRANSFER ON DEATH DEED VOIDED BY COURT

Posted at 10:00h in Beneficiary, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Lady Bird Deed, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Nursing Home, Probate Administration, Transfer of Death, Wills

TRANSFER ON DEATH DEED VOIDED BY COURT The Fort Worth Court of Appeals has recently set aside a Transfer on Death Deed (an instrument that usually avoids court action for real estate to pass to a beneficiary) since a jury determined the deed was signed as...

16 Nov WHERE THERE IS NO WILL, THERE IS A WAY (SOMETIMES) – SMALL ESTATES AFFIDAVITS

Posted at 10:00h in Asset Protection, Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Notarizations, Probate Administration, Public Benefits Protection, Transfer of Death, Trusts, Wills

Texans who die with modest means may be able to have their property transferred if they have no Will and if certain other requirements are met. One of the main reasons for having a Will or a Trust is to transfer property of the deceased...

10 Nov WILL OF KLONDIKE KING OF “SOURTOE COCKTAIL” LEAVES HIS TOES TO HOTEL BAR TO BE “TOEST OF TOWN”

Posted at 10:00h in Estate Planning, Wills

Dick Stevenson, who in 1973 created the Sourtoe Cocktail (a shot of whiskey garnished with an amputated, mummified human toe) died at age 89 in November with his Will specifying that all of his toes be donated to the Dawson City (Yukon Territory, Canada) Downtown...

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...

18 Sep LAWYER’S WILL DRAFTING LIKELY TO COST MILLIONS TO DECEDENT’S PARTNER

Posted at 09:00h in Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Wills

As a result of poorly worded language drafted in a Will by a New York lawyer, the surviving companion of 18 years of the deceased is likely to be disinherited. The Last Will and Testament of 84 year old New York City psychologist, Jill Morris...

04 Sep SUICIDAL MANHUNT MURDERERS RECORDED “LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT” ON CELL PHONE

Posted at 09:00h in Estate Planning, Wills

After killing several people in Canada resulting in a manhunt over three Canadian provinces, Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, left a video on a cellphone in which they said goodbye to their families and described their last wishes for their remains similar to a...

28 Aug SUCCESS STORY OF THE MONTH – WIDOW PROBATES HUSBAND’S WILL SEVEN YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH TO GET FULL TITLE TO HOME

Posted at 09:00h in Beneficiary, Estate Planning, Inheritance, Probate Administration, Success Story of the Month, Wills

Many people incorrectly assume that the surviving spouse will always get full title to their homestead that was bought together after the first spouse dies. In this case, the husband, who had two children from a prior relationship and four children born of his marriage...

27 Aug $1 MILLION IN UNCASHED CHECKS AND THREE HANDWRITTEN “WILLS”, ARETHA FRANKLIN’S ESTATE IN CHAOS ONE YEAR AFTER HER DEATH

Posted at 09:00h in Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Probate Administration, Taxes, Wills

“Sock it to me, sock it to me” are part of the famed lyrics of Aretha Franklin’s hit song, “RESPECT”, but her lack of estate planning has landed a haymaker to the previously closely-knit heirs of the late songstress who died a little over a...

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 Aug ANDERSON COOPER INHERITS $1.5 MILLION FROM HIS MOTHER, GLORIA VANDERBILT

Posted at 09:00h in Business, Charitable Giving, Divorce, End of Life Care Planning, Estate Planning, Inheritance, Michael Cohen Dallas Elder Lawyer, Trusts, Wills

Gloria Vanderbilt’s Will provided that her son, CNN news reporter Anderson Cooper (“Anderson Cooper 360”), will receive the residue of her estate other than her Manhattan co-op and contents therein which were bequested to another son, Charles Stokowski. Since Wills and inventory are a matter...

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