Estate Planning Lawyers
Houston Probate Attorney
Concluding the financial and legal affairs that must be dealt with after a family member passes away is not an easy task.
Seeking the help of estate planning lawyers can help you ensure a timely and orderly dispersal of the deceased person’s assets.
An experienced and compassionate estate planning attorney can assist you in all aspects related to probate issues.
Probate Lawyer Houston Flat Fee
What If The Deceased Person Owned A Business?
In a situation where the deceased person’s estate includes business interests, an experienced estate planning lawyer can help you with business valuations and enactment of business succession plans. In most cases, business owners often take certain steps to protect their business for their heirs. This includes taking steps to make it easier for heirs to step into a role of business owner or sell the business after the business owner passes away. Some of the steps business owners take for the sake of their heirs include:
- Drafting a will and other documents showing how the business should be handled
- Creating a business succession plan that ensures that the business can be transferred to an heir or successor as smoothly as possible
- Making arrangements to pay liability insurance months after the business owner dies to protect family or heir from lawsuits against the business after the owner dies
- Purchasing additional life insurance to ensure that heirs have enough liquidity to finalize and close the business after the owner’s death, or to provide capital if the business will continue operating
An estate planning lawyer will review your case to find out if the deceased person took any of the above steps. Depending on the steps taken by the deceased, your attorney can help you liquidate assets, continue the family business, divide business interests fairly and more.
Other Ways An Estate Planning Attorney Can Help
People with sizable estates and or complicated family dynamics require the help of an estate planning attorney to handle the following:
- Marital property agreements such as prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements
- Living trusts
- Family LLCs
- Family limited partnerships
- Life insurance planning
- Charitable donations
- Gifting programs and more
These tools and strategies can make it easier for family members to protect your legacy long after you pass away.
Will Contests And Trust Disputes
A party can legally dispute a will’s validity by filing a formal lawsuit. The statute of limitations for contesting a will is 2 years. A will can be contested on the following grounds:
- Undue influence: Involves allegations that the testator was influenced by a third party when writing a will
- Lack of testament capacity: Involves allegations that the testator was not of sound mind when they drafted the will.
- Due execution: Involves allegations that the testator did not follow specific steps required by the law when they wrote the will
- Legal noncompliance: Relevant in situations where a will are not drafted, handled, and executed according to requirements of the law
Trusts can also be contested for some of the reasons above. You need an experienced estate planning lawyer to help you dispute a will or a trust.
