Menu
» Trusts
Pros and Cons of Naming Many Residuary Beneficiaries in a Will or Trust
January 15th, 2025
You have meticulously created your estate plan to ensure that it includes and addresses all of your most important assets (accounts and property). You have reviewed your asset list repeatedly, and everything seems to be accounted for. But what if you…
Read More
Who Should Be Your Successor Trustee?
January 8th, 2025
If you have a revocable living trust, you probably named yourself as the initial trustee so that you can continue to manage your financial affairs. However, someone else will eventually need to step in to administer your trust when you are no longer…
Read More
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…
Read More
Will My Revocable Living Trust Avoid Probate? It Depends.
December 24th, 2024
If you have established a revocable living trust (which we will refer to simply as a trust), congratulations! You are on the right track in creating a comprehensive estate plan. However, you are only halfway there. Many people believe that because th…
Read More
Wills, Trusts, and Dying Intestate: How They Differ
December 18th, 2024
Most people understand that having an estate plan benefits them and their loved ones. However, many individuals do not initiate the estate planning process because they do not fully understand the nuances of foundational estate planning tools such as…
Read More
Caution: Using a DIY Deed to Create Joint Owners and Avoid Probate Can Lead to Unintended Consequences
December 11th, 2024
One common way to avoid the probate requirement for real estate after the owner dies is to add children or other individuals to the property title as joint owners with rights of survivorship. When joint owners have survivorship rights and one joint o…
Read More
Shannen Doherty Understood That With Divorce, Timing Is Everything in Estate Planning
December 4th, 2024
According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey, there were more than 670,000 divorces[1] and more than 2 million marriages in 2022. Divorce is a common life event that many Americans face during their lifetime. But the effect of div…
Read More
Choosing a Fiduciary: How to Pick a Trustee, Executor, and Agent under a Power of Attorney
November 6th, 2024
While the term fiduciary is a legal term with a rich history, it generally means someone who is legally obligated to act in another person’s best interest. Trustees, executors, and agents are examples of fiduciaries. When you are choosing a fiducia…
Read More
Categories: Estate Planning, Health Care Surrogates, Powers of Attorney, Probate, Property, Trusts, Wills
Can Someone Else Pay for My Estate Plan?
October 23rd, 2024
Estate planning is not just for the wealthy. Every adult should have an estate plan, yet surprisingly, most Americans do not. The perceived cost of creating one is among the most cited reasons for a lack of estate planning. The consequences of not ha…
Read More
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…
Read More
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