Most people picture a will being signed the same way: a pen, a signature line on the last page, and a full name written out in front of witnesses. But people who draft their own wills don’t always follow the script. Sometimes the signature line gets skipped entirely. When that happens, the family is left...KEEP READING
Business partners often agree that whoever outlives the other gets the first shot at buying out the deceased partner’s share. Ranching families do it. Oil and gas investors do it. Owners of closely held companies do it. The surviving partner assumes the deal will simply play out once the other partner passes away. But what...KEEP READING
When a parent dies and a new spouse takes control of the estate, the adult children from the first marriage usually assume they get a say. They are the decedent’s children, after all. So they file something in the probate court objecting to the new spouse serving as executor — and get told they have...KEEP READING
When a parent dies and leaves behind a blended family, a fight over the estate is close to a given. Stepparents, stepchildren, and children from a prior relationship all end up comparing what they were promised against what they actually received. When those disagreements turn into lawsuits, the money is only part of it. There...KEEP READING
A patient checks into a rehabilitation hospital. Her lab work flags a serious bacterial infection. Her doctors never treat it. She is discharged, admitted elsewhere the next day now septic, and dies a month later. The family wants to know who is responsible and whether the law will even let them ask that question in...KEEP READING
Most Texans treat their homestead as untouchable. The Texas Constitution protects a home from creditors with no dollar limit, so in theory even a $20 million mansion can be shielded entirely from forced sale. But that protection has a federal ceiling, and most debtors never learn about it until a creditor brings it up in...KEEP READING
A contractor finishes building a home. The owner dies before paying the final draw. The contractor files a claim against the probate estate, the estate representative rejects it, and the contractor heads to court only to find the courthouse door locked. Not because the claim lacked merit, but because the suit was filed in the...KEEP READING
When a family member dies and leaves behind real property, heirs often assume they receive the property free and clear. The reality is more complicated. If the deceased person owed debts secured by that property—like a mortgage—those debts don’t simply disappear. They attach to the property itself and follow it to whoever inherits it. For...KEEP READING
Family violence tears through households without regard to legal formalities. A grandmother faces exploitation by her own daughter. The granddaughter seeks to protect her. But there’s a complication: the daughter gave up the granddaughter for adoption decades ago, and her parental rights were terminated. Does that termination destroy the granddaughter’s legal standing to seek a...KEEP READING
