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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
Estate Plan Basics for Newlyweds: How to Prepare for the Unexpected
February 19th, 2025
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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Estate Planning for the Newly Married
February 5th, 2025
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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Categories: Estate Planning, Guardianship, Planning for Minor Children, Powers of Attorney, Trusts, Wills
Do It Now: Name a Guardian for Your Minor Children
January 22nd, 2025
We know it is difficult, even horrific, to imagine someone else raising your children. However, you must consider who you would choose to fill this important role. Otherwise, a judge—a stranger who does not know you or your wishes, your child, or y…
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How to Choose the Initial Trustee of Your Trust
December 31st, 2024
When you establish a trust, you nominate someone to be the initial trustee. If you are creating a revocable living trust, you will likely be the initial trustee. You will also want to name successors or backup trustees to step in and manage the trust…
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Should Your Child’s Guardian and Trustee Be the Same Person?
November 20th, 2024
If you have overheard any estate planning discussions, you have likely heard the words “guardian” or “trustee.” In estate planning, deciding who will ultimately be tasked with caring for your minor child or managing funds for their benefit is…
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Won’t My Spouse and Kids Inherit Everything When I Die?
October 9th, 2024
You may think that if you die while you are married, everything you own will automatically go to your spouse and children. But you are actually thinking of state rules that apply if someone dies without leaving a will. In legal jargon, this is referr…
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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