Category: Legal

Often, after parents pass away leaving a house to their children, the siblings disagree on what to do with it. Some want to sell and split the money. Some want to live there. If the sibling that wants to keep the property can get a mortgage, they can buy out the others. But what if…

A young man graduated from high school and got his first job. HR had a lot of forms for him to sign. One asked who he wanted as the beneficiary of his mandatory savings plan. He listed his girlfriend. He soon broke up with the girlfriend but stayed with the employer. After many years of…

One of the first things you want to do when working on an estate plan is decide who will get your cars and trucks. If you live in Texas, you can name them in your will but the easiest way to pass them on is to use the Texas DMV Beneficiary Designation for a Motor…

Family relationships aren’t always great. That might not be a problem most of the time, but when a family member passes away it can become one. Step-parents are a common example but any relationship can become an issue. When you think the person that died (decedent) left a will and you think someone else has…

Mother died in 2006. Daughter continued living in Mother’s  home. Neither daughter did anything to settle their mother’s estate. In 2017, the home suffered hurricane damage. Daughter filed an insurance claim, and the insurance company issued checks payable to Mother. A “friend” got a small-estate affidavit approved naming herself as an heir and cashed the…

My overview of estate planning is at https://twmarshlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Estate-Planning-Overview.pdf