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Why Real Estate Title Matters in Estate Planning
April 22nd, 2026
Real estate can be owned in several different ways. The form of ownership, or how your real estate is titled, can determine how much control you have over it, how vulnerable your property is to creditor claims and lawsuits, and what will happen to it…
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Celebrate Your Life Your Way: How to Make Funerals and Memorials Meaningful
April 8th, 2026
Many people have a childhood memory of somebody close to them passing away. Whether the deceased was a parent or grandparent, an aunt or uncle, or a family friend, it may have been their first real encounter facing grief or attending a funeral. That…
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Caution: Using a Do-it-Yourself Deed to Avoid Probate Can Lead to Costly Unintended Consequences
March 4th, 2026
One goal of estate planning is to ensure that your assets, including your home, pass to your chosen beneficiaries quickly and with minimal expense. In real estate, a common strategy to avoid probate (the court process of validating a will and distrib…
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Foster Children in an Estate Plan
January 14th, 2026
A foster child may come into your life through the court system, an agency, or your own extended family. However it begins, the relationship can grow into something deeply personal, with the unshakable feeling that this child is yours. However, the l…
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Committed, Protected, Prepared: Estate Planning Tips for Unmarried Couples
January 7th, 2026
More couples than ever are building deep, lasting relationships without ever walking down the aisle and staying as an unmarried couple. Whether by choice, circumstance, or principle, many Americans are opting out of marriage—but not out of commitme…
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Categories: Estate Planning, Health Care Surrogates, Living Will, Powers of Attorney, Probate, Property, Trusts, Wills
Parental Warning: If You Own Your Property This Way, You May Accidentally Disinherit Your Own Children
November 19th, 2025
Do you own your home, other property, or a financial account with someone else, such as a spouse or an adult child? If so, you might be surprised to learn that a common way of owning property could cause problems for your loved ones in the future. Jo…
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If I Leave Someone My Home, What Do They Really Get?
November 5th, 2025
Your home is likely one of the most valuable assets you own, if not the most valuable. Calling it an asset can sound cold. A home is far more than an assortment of materials and possessions. It is also a place to live, gather, create life stories, an…
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How to Help Your Loved Ones Avoid Probate (Spoiler: Fund Your Trust!)
October 22nd, 2025
Today, many people use a revocable living trust instead of a will, joint ownership, or beneficiary designation as the foundation of their estate plan. When properly prepared, a trust avoids the sometimes costly, always public, and often time-consumin…
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What to Do After a Loved One Dies
October 15th, 2025
If you have been named the person responsible for settling a deceased loved one’s affairs, commonly called an executor or personal representative (if your loved one had no estate plan or had a will) or a successor trustee (if they had a trust), you…
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Categories: Probate
Probate Delays: Five Reasons Your Probate Might Be Taking So Long
October 8th, 2025
After a loved one dies, their money and property that goes through probate must be distributed to the people legally entitled to it, either according to a last will and testament (also called a will) or the state’s default distribution scheme (foun…
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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