Estate Planning
An estate plan should coordinate the instruments that govern property at death or incapacity, including wills, trusts where appropriate, powers of attorney, medical directives, beneficiary designations, deeds, and the transfer provisions in business entities.
The firm prepares estate plans for individuals, families, professionals, and business owners, with particular attention to entity interests and Texas real property. The recommended structure is based on the client’s assets, family circumstances, succession objectives, administration concerns, and potential transfer-tax exposure.
Estate-planning documents need to be coordinated with the transfer, death, and succession provisions in the client’s business agreements. Otherwise, the documents may direct the same ownership interest in different ways.
Services
- Wills, revocable trusts, and pour-over structures
- Powers of attorney and medical directives
- Transfer-on-death deeds and non-probate transfer instruments
- Beneficiary designation coordination across accounts and policies
- Transfer-tax analysis and lifetime gifting strategy
- Plan integration with entity, partnership, and buy-sell documents
Representative Experience
Estate planning integrated with family entity structures — including family limited partnership arrangements designed with the recognized planning risk areas (retained control, valuation, transfer restrictions) addressed in the drafting.
Counsel on Texas transfer-on-death instruments for real property, including commercial property and the lender-notification questions they raise.
Drafting of wills and core estate-planning instruments structured to carry out each client’s distribution and succession objectives.
Lady bird (enhanced life estate) deeds and related instruments transferring Texas real property outside probate, and transfers of real property into limited liability companies for holding, asset-protection, and succession purposes. More →
Representative matters. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Process
Inventory and objectives
Assets, entities, family, and what “done right” means to you.
Plan design memo
The structure, the tax analysis, and the reasons.
Drafting
The complete instrument set, internally consistent.
Execution and funding
Signing ceremony, deed and designation work, and a maintenance schedule.
FAQs
I have a will from years ago. Isn’t that enough?
A will that predates your current entities, property, or family situation coordinates with none of them. A plan should be reviewed when the client’s family, assets, entities, residence, or objectives materially change.
Do I need a trust?
Sometimes — for probate avoidance, management during incapacity, or tax structure. Sometimes a will and well-drafted non-probate transfers do the work at half the complexity. The recommendation should follow from the client’s circumstances rather than a presumption that every plan requires a trust.
How does my LLC fit into my estate plan?
Through the operating agreement — its transfer and death provisions either cooperate with your plan or defeat it. The firm drafts both, so they cooperate.
From the Resource Center
The Estate Plan That Ignores Your Operating Agreement Isn't a Plan
Estate planning for business owners, drafted to agree with the company's own documents.
Texas Transfer-on-Death Deeds
Estate planning and real property transfer counsel for Texas families.