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Does Treating Your Children Fairly Mean Unequal Inheritances?
July 23rd, 2025
When thinking through their estate plan and how they want their assets (money and property) managed after they pass away, most parents wish to treat their children equally, often out of a sense of fairness. However, sometimes being fair or doing what…
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Minimalism May Be Great for Your Stuff and Finances but Not for Your Estate Planning
July 9th, 2025
Minimalism is a hot topic these days, but a minimalist “less is more” mindset for estate planning can leave you and your loved ones unprotected. An estate plan is one area of your life where you should lean into chaos and assert control, not by r…
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Your Divorce Decree: The First Step in Estate Planning
July 2nd, 2025
You and your spouse have recently divorced, and the judge has signed the divorce decree. Now what? Although you may feel that you have spent enough time and money on lawyers, there is one last attorney you need to talk to: an estate planning attorney…
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Five Reasons Uncle Bill May Not Make a Good Trustee (and Maybe a Corporate Trustee is a Better Choice)
May 28th, 2025
If you have created a trust that you intend to last for decades, choosing the right trustee is critical to ensuring the trust’s longevity and ultimate success. Initially, you may think that a family member (for example, Uncle Bill to your children,…
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How an Inheritance Can Help with Loved Ones' Educational Costs
May 21st, 2025
A primary goal of estate planning is to provide financially for your loved ones. One way to ensure they are set up for lifelong success is to create an estate plan that allows an inheritance to help with your loved ones’ educational costs. High…
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HIPAA: An Overview for Young Adults
May 14th, 2025
The Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was enacted to provide guidelines to the healthcare industry for protecting patient information and preserving privacy. This is usually a nonissue for minors because pare…
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Should I Include My Unborn Child in My Estate Plan?
April 23rd, 2025
Estate planning is an exercise in anticipating potential future events that could affect your plans for what happens if you become incapacitated (unable to manage your own affairs during your lifetime) and how your assets (property and accounts) will…
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Have a Harmonious Family that Does Not Fight? You Still Need an Estate Plan
April 16th, 2025
Last week, we shared tips for avoiding a will contest. In many families, everyone gets along, happily gathering for the holidays, sharing laughs, telling stories, and enjoying each other’s company. Then, the matriarch or patriarch dies. Suddenly, y…
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Who Needs an Estate Plan?
March 26th, 2025
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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Planning for the Unthinkable: Essential Tools for Parents of Minor Children
March 12th, 2025
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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Categories: Estate Planning, Guardianship, Planning for Minor Children, Powers of Attorney, Trusts, Wills
Attorney Jana McCreary
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