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Talking to Aging Parents About Estate Planning
June 10th, 2026
Beyond the practical purpose of transferring assets and reducing taxes, an estate plan reflects love, responsibility, and values. That emotional heaviness may be part of why many families avoid the subject. Pew Research reports that only about 3 in 1…
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Pot Trusts Explained for Families
May 27th, 2026
A pot trust (also called a “children’s trust”) is a way to hold money and property for a group of beneficiaries, usually children or other family members, in one shared trust. Instead of dividing everything into separate shares righ…
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Mastering Your Future: An Essential Estate Planning Guide for Single Individuals
May 20th, 2026
As a single person, you may find yourself wondering who will step in to make important decisions for you if you become unable to do so or who will receive your money and property after your death. Although parents, siblings, or other loved ones may b…
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Ancillary Probate: When It Is Used, Where It Occurs, and How to Avoid It
May 6th, 2026
Many people own property in more than one state, such as an ocean-side vacation home or a rental property in a former home state or a timeshare that is owned as a deeded interest. It is important to think about how that property will be handled after…
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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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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