Beneficiaries

As we prepare to celebrate Valentine’s Day, let’s take a moment to ruminate on how judges through the ages have addressed love and affection. We’ll start with Justice Jackson of the US Supreme Court, who authored a dissenting opinion for a 1942 case involving two people who had left their homes and respective spouses and set up housekeeping as husband and wife. Jackson first lamented that the case involved three...

Trusts can pop up in the darndest places. Take wills, for example. In one case, Sam, a lawyer, drafted a will for his long-time friend and client, Nancy, that stated she was leaving all her property to him “to be distributed in accordance with the specific instructions I have provided him.” The will did not contain the specific instructions. Nancy died, leaving no husband and no children. Her will was probated and...

Lurking just beneath the surface of every will are the “secret” terms – those default provisions that the law helpfully inserts when the document is otherwise silent. They can undermine the best of estate plans.   These provisions are not highlighted anywhere. There is no caution light that flashes to notify you of the danger. This is just knowledge that most estate planners – and a very few other souls –...

A Trust is a legal chameleon. What is a Trust At its most basic, a trust is an agreement by a fiduciary (the trustee)  to hold property for the benefit of another.  A trust is not a separate legal entity. There are three players in a trust – the settlor (who establishes and sometimes funds the trust), the trustee (who administers the trust) and the beneficiary (who benefits from the trust). A trust...

Want to save yourself 3 hours of a hard-sell at a “free educational seminar” on estate planning?  Here are the short answers to the teaser questions in that unsolicited mailing you received. Will or Trust? A will is a writing that does not become binding until after you die and the document is accepted by a judge in a court probate proceeding.  The will disposes of all of the assets that...

The Trials and Tribulations of a Will Creative Writing Gone Astray If there was one document that could benefit from therapy, it would be a will. A will can be conflicted, contested, and constructed.  It can, tragically, suffer from latent or patent ambiguity, inconsistency, and mistakes.  It can even contain a negative bequest. The only good news for a Texas will is that it cannot be stricken by mortmain. Looking at the hundreds of...

Trusts and Taxes Case is Good News for the People If you have, or intend to have, any relationship with a trust in any capacity, then you need to know about the US Supreme Court’s opinion in Kaestner.  https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/18-457_2034.pdf The issue is taxation.  Some background is necessary to set the stage.   Trusts and Undistributed Income Many trusts hold assets that generate income.  If any of that income remains in the trust at the...

Here is a bit of information that you might find helpful if you are on Medicare and about to get inappropriately discharged from the hospital. If you are on Medicare, then you can stay in the hospital only if there is a good medical reason.   When your doctor, or the hospitalist if your doctor is not overseeing your care during your hospital stay, decides that there is no longer a...

Are you married? Amazingly, a lot of people cannot correctly answer that question. In Texas, you can be married formally or informally.  The formal way is when you sign a written declaration of marriage.  The informal way, also known as a common-law marriage, is when you and another person agree to be married, thereafter live together in Texas as spouses, and represent to others that you are married. The formal method is...

There’s a new form in town:  Beneficiary Designation for a Motor Vehicle. If you own a vehicle registered in Texas, then you can name a beneficiary who will take title to the car when you die. How do you make this happen?  For now, you will probably have to stand in line at the county tax assessor-collector’s office to submit the forms.  You must submit the beneficiary form  an Application for...