Inheriting a house can feel like a gift, right up until the bills attached to it start showing up. When someone dies owning a home with an unpaid mortgage, the heirs who step into ownership do not step into a clean slate. The debt rides along with the property. And if those heirs ignore a […] The post Mortgage After Death: The… The post Mortgage After Death: The Texas Statutory… Continue reading Mortgage After Death: The Texas Statutory Probate Lien and What Heirs Need to Know

Imagine spending nearly thirty years as a homemaker while your spouse builds a multimillion-dollar business and then discovering, at the moment of divorce, that the community estate is worth less than $85,000. No retirement account. No real property. Half of a joint checking account that totals around $14,000 after credit card debt. Meanwhile, your spouse’s […] The post When a Premarital Agreement… The post When a Premarital Agreement Shields a… Continue reading When a Premarital Agreement Shields a Separate-Property Empire: The Limits of “Just and Right” in a Texas Divorce

Imagine you are a commercial landlord in Harris County. Your tenant has an option to purchase the property at the end of the lease, and the relationship has soured. You want the tenant out. A district court grants a temporary injunction blocking you from pursuing eviction, and you decide to wait, assuming the trial is […] The post Motion to Dissolve Injunction… The post Motion to Dissolve Injunction Texas: Why… Continue reading Motion to Dissolve Injunction Texas: Why Courts Won’t Let You Relitigate the Original Order

Most people sign a durable power of attorney with incapacity in mind. They want someone they trust to manage their affairs if they no longer can. Few stop to think that the same document, once signed and recorded, can also decide how and where a plaintiff serves them with a lawsuit. In Texas, a statutory […] The post When Your Agent Can’t… The post When Your Agent Can’t Refuse: Durable… Continue reading When Your Agent Can’t Refuse: Durable Power of Attorney and Service of Process in Texas

When a Texas homeowner dies and the mortgage is still outstanding, the debt does not die with the borrower. The lender’s right to foreclose does not die either. What changes is who owns the house. And under Texas law, ownership shifts the instant the homeowner takes her last breath — title passes by operation of […] The post Mortgage Foreclosure After Death:… The post Mortgage Foreclosure After Death: What Texas… Continue reading Mortgage Foreclosure After Death: What Texas Heirs Need to Know

Guardianship proceedings in Texas can become battlegrounds almost overnight. When a family is already divided over who should care for a vulnerable loved one, court orders restricting one parent’s participation can feel like attacks rather than protections. And when a parent believes the appointed guardian is failing the ward, the impulse to keep filing motions […] The post Too Late to Appeal:… The post Too Late to Appeal: When Guardianship… Continue reading Too Late to Appeal: When Guardianship Orders Expire Before Courts Can Act

As probate attorneys, we see a lot of wills that just don’t cut it. We see everything from wills that fail to name executors, that fail to mention anything about death or dying, that fail to have witness signatures, etc. While we get that folks like to save a few dollars and skip the estate […] The post Provision in a Will… The post Provision in a Will that Allows… Continue reading Provision in a Will that Allows the Family to Dispose of Assets Mean that the Entire Family Inherits?

Last minute estate plan changes often result in disputes. These disputes often involve situations where a elderly and newly widowed parent remarries or finds a new romantic partner quickly after their spouse’s death. There are often questions by the adult children about whether the new spouse or partner gained influence over the parents’ finances, particularly […] The post Undue Influence Claims Texas… The post Undue Influence Claims Texas Probates for… Continue reading Undue Influence Claims Texas Probates for Late-Life Remarriage and Relationships

The Texas legislature created business courts to handle litigation cases involving business matters. The jurisdiction and scope of cases the courts can hear has not been fully fleshed out yet. Since many probate estates and trusts include family-controlled partnerships and LLCs, this begs the question as to whether these disputes should be litigated in probate […] The post Can You Remove a Trust Dispute from Probate Court to the New… Continue reading Can You Remove a Trust Dispute from Probate Court to the New Texas Business Court?

Married couples often rely on bank or brokerage representatives to handle the paperwork when they set up their accounts. The spouses may sign forms and then discuss the types of accounts or authorizations after they have already signed the forms. This begs the question as sto what happens when there is evidence that boxes on […] The post Is a Brokerage Account Form that is Altered to add a “Survivorship”… Continue reading Is a Brokerage Account Form that is Altered to add a “Survivorship” Designation Valid?