Rising housing costs, the desire for companionship, and the need to share resources are increasingly leading buyers to consider co-owning a home with someone other than a spouse, such as a friend, relative, or significant other. Although this arrange…
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If you are reading this, you need an estate plan. Why? The short answer is that everyone age 18 and older needs an estate plan. It does not matter whether you are old or young, have built up considerable wealth or are just entering adulthood—you ne…
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Many people believe that once they set up a revocable living trust and change the ownership of their accounts and property from themselves as individuals to their trust, those accounts and property are protected from lawsuits. This is not true. While…
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Approximately three-fourths of Americans do not have a basic will.[1] Many of the same people also have minor children, which underscores a major misunderstanding about estate plans: they can accomplish much more than just handling financial assets (…
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Trusts are widely used in estate planning to protect and transfer a person’s assets (money, accounts, property, etc.), sometimes in a tax-advantaged manner. Some trusts are highly complex, with multiple parties, intricate structures, specialized le…
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When beginning any type of planning, you usually start with some preliminary questions. Estate planning is no different. When you begin the process, your estate planning attorney will likely ask about your family members, the accounts and property yo…
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Getting married is a special time in your life; you may have a beautiful wedding, a fun reception (with a delicious cake and special gifts), and a romantic honeymoon. It is also the right time for you and your new spouse to plan for your future—for…
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If you recently married or have been married for a while and have acquired additional money or property (or plan to), you have options regarding how your assets can be owned. Although joint ownership seems easy and convenient, particularly when that…
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Now, when you are newly married, is the perfect time to start working on an estate plan. As newlyweds or those about to marry, you are likely in the process of deciding which of your accounts and property (your assets) to combine and how to turn two…
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Once you have been appointed the executor or personal representative of a deceased loved one’s probate estate, or when you step in as the successor trustee of the loved one’s trust, one of the things you should do early in the process is to notif…
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Houston Estate Planning Attorney Jana R. McCreary has been an attorney for over twenty years, a career move she made after working for over a decade with adults and children with intellectual disabilities and mental illness. Graduating summa cum laud… Read More