Do you own your house? This may sound like a silly question, but in my experience many people do not know the answer to this question. Some people think ownership is based on what is shown in the tax records at the central appraisal district...
In 2015, the Texas Legislature passed a law adopting the Transfer on Death Deed (“TODD”). The TODD was adopted, presumably, as an alternative to probating an estate simply for the purpose of clearing title to real estate. More plainly, if you only own a home,...
Millions of homeowners across the country are refinancing to take advantage of the lowest mortgage interest rates in recent history. If you have a Revocable Living Trust, most likely your home is titled (or at least it should be titled) in the name of your...
The law finds its way into a lot of movies. I might be so bold to say that law finds its way into MOST movies. Sometimes the law is an essential plot point of the movie. One recent example is Knives Out. As I watched...
Have you noticed that life keeps getting more and more complicated? Things that we thought we knew and understood seem to not be as simple as they once were. An area of law that is often misunderstood in this manner is community property. In Texas, community...
There is common thinking that says if you want something done, do it yourself. Although this might be true in some situations, it is not the best approach when it comes to representing yourself in court. Abraham Lincoln said, “He who represents himself has a...
Some people say that probate is easy. The definition of easy is often based on perspective and experience. For example, a DMV employee might think it is easy to obtain or renew a driver’s license. However, over the past two years there have been numerous...
My great grandma inherited the farm where she worked when the owner died. The owner’s children had all passed away before him, and he said, in his will, that she was the hardest worker and he left her what she had worked so hard on...
There are strict rules governing lawyers’ professional responsibility to be ethical. The very first rule is that a lawyer has the duty to be competent in his representation of a client and to maintain competence by keeping up-to-date with any changes in the practice of...
We often get asked about joint bank accounts, and how an account owner’s death impacts the ownership of said account. There is a lot of misinformation surrounding what the right of survivorship designation can and cannot accomplish. In the January 2019 Texas Bar Journal, Gerry...