A parent starts to slip. One child holds the power of attorney. Another child shows up, has the parent sign new papers, and moves her across the country to live in the spare bedroom. The rest of the family is left asking whether Mom even understood what she signed, and whether she understood that she...KEEP READING
Divorce doesn’t always end the fight over property. Sometimes a decree divides things loosely, the money sits in limbo for years, and then one of the former spouses dies. Now the other spouse is dealing with an estate, an administrator, and maybe a will. Challenging that will can look like the fastest way to get...KEEP READING
Guardianship fights inside a family rarely end when the judge signs the order. The relative who lost often keeps looking for a way to undo it, and one of the first places they look is the very start of the case: was the proposed ward properly served? Texas law is specific about who can hand...KEEP READING
When a beneficiary thinks a trust has been mismanaged, the first thing he needs is the paper. Bank statements, tax returns, ledgers, and the accountant’s workpapers usually tell the real story. The trouble is that the paper is often not where the lawsuit is. The trust case is in Texas, but the trustee’s accountants may...KEEP READING
A lot of divorce settlements include a promise about the kids. One parent agrees to leave the children of that marriage a share of everything when he dies. Then life moves on. He remarries, builds new wealth with a new spouse, and puts most of it in both their names. When he dies, the jointly...KEEP READING
When a relative goes to probate court and gets a temporary guardian appointed for a parent, things can move fast. Sometimes the first order is signed before the parent has a lawyer or a hearing. For the person on the receiving end, that can feel like the courthouse took her checkbook and her independence before...KEEP READING
When a family fight breaks out over an estate, the person in charge of the estate is usually the first target. An heir thinks the executor is the wrong person for the job, asks the probate judge to remove her, and the judge says no. The heir’s next thought is obvious: appeal, and appeal now,...KEEP READING
When a family fights over a guardianship for years, most people assume the fight ends when the loved one dies. The person who needed protecting is gone. What is left for the court to do? Quite a bit, as it turns out. A ward’s death ends the guardian’s authority over the person, but it does...KEEP READING
When a lawyer botches a will or trust, the people who get hurt are usually the ones who were supposed to inherit. The client is dead. The mistake often doesn’t surface until the estate is in probate, and by then the money is going somewhere the client never intended. So can a disappointed beneficiary sue...KEEP READING
A grandmother hires a lawyer to plan her estate. She wants her children to get specific gifts, and she wants what is left to go to her grandchildren through a trust. She signs the papers, dies a few months later, and the family learns the trust doesn’t work. The money that was supposed to go...KEEP READING
