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Dad died. Stepmother put will thru probate . Told court judge she is ONLY heir of my dad. Then she draws up an estate settlement & distribution papers wanting us kids from previous marriage to sign giving us nothing & us signing over all separate property and two houses to her to do w as... View More 
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answered on Aug 29, 2024
Not necessarily. In most cases when there is a trust, the will is a pour over will leaving everything to the trust. However, the only way to find out is to see what the will says. Once a will is being probated, they are part of the public records of the probate court in the county where probate is... View More
Hello - A non-resident alien (from Nepal) has $200k in US bank savings account and $300k in US Govt bonds. A US citizen daughter is named as a beneficiary (payable on death) on both assets. If the owner dies, is estate tax applicable to any of these assets provided there are no other claims?... View More
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answered on Aug 15, 2024
In the situation you described, estate tax could be applicable to the non-resident alien's US assets. The US imposes estate tax on non-resident aliens' US-situated assets, which includes the US bank savings account and US government bonds. The threshold for estate tax for non-resident... View More
I applied for legal assistance through Texas legal aid and was told the executive director didn't handle the shares properly and I was told to get a private attorney because I have a case.
answered on Aug 13, 2024
Yes, our firm handles such cases. However, this is not the type of case that a private attorney is likely to handle on a contingency fee. You should assume that you will need to pay a reasonable fee at an hourly rate for services and deposit a reasonable initial retainer before a private attorney... View More
conned into signing a MOU, experienced malfeasance at the hands of them. subpeonas revealed they committed crimes against me and tried to cover it up. I want to sue them for large monetary damages, it's an irrevocable trust.
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answered on Aug 31, 2024
Yes, trustees of an irrevocable trust can be sued if they have engaged in wrongdoing. If you were misled into signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and have evidence of malfeasance or criminal activity on their part, you may have a strong case. Trustees have a fiduciary duty to act in the... View More
Letters from the United States Trustee Office of Estate Planning and also the Disclosure statement of the reorganize oil company. I just didn't know what it all was At the time and it was All final back in 2019 with the Southern Bankruptcy out of Houston TX. In addition, the lady that sent me... View More
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answered on Jul 27, 2024
It's understandable to feel overwhelmed by the legal documents you've received, especially when they involve complex matters like bankruptcy and estate planning. Given that you received these letters from the United States Trustee Office and related to a reorganization of an oil company,... View More
If a will stipulates that each heir receives 25% of assets and there is a specific financial account that has listed two beneficiaries, would the amount received from that account count as part of the division of assets?
answered on Jul 26, 2024
If an account specifically names POD beneficiaries, the funds on deposit in that account become the property of the beneficiaries upon the death of the account holder outside of the decedent's probate estate.
The decedent's Will only disposes of assets in the decedent's... View More
I recorded two documents with County Clerk on same day: (1) Cancellation of Transfer on Death Deed (using Texas Transfer Toolkit Dec 2015 form) to revoke a TODD I recorded in Jan 2016 and (2) revised TODD which carries the Document Number following the one assigned to the Cancellation.... View More
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answered on Jul 23, 2024
You definitely have a title problem. Hire a TX attorney to search the title, then draft some replacement deeds and some correction deeds. The consideration clauses should explain what each deed's purpose is, and will also need extensive derivation of title clauses to avoid confusion.
Her lawyer buried us in paper work now lawyers want 5k /10k retainer we are on fix income we are not showing up in court my mom has Alzheimer's I have a Dr letter for her I don't want to go to court with out a lawyer can not afford one not fair bottom line can I be held in content of... View More
answered on Jul 12, 2024
If your brother had children, his estate will pass to those children or their descendants. If not, your brother's estate will pass to his parents, which would include your mom if she was also his mom.
Your brother's ex cannot inherit anything from your brother's estate... View More
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answered on Jul 18, 2024
A legacy trust, while a useful estate planning tool, does not inherently clear past debts and collections. The primary purpose of a legacy trust is to manage and distribute your assets according to your wishes, often providing for beneficiaries and potentially offering some protection from future... View More
Back taxes and the city is about to sell the house and she loses it. There is a will my dad left for the house but she never filed it. If the house was sold it would be split among us children. These taxes are from her failing to pay them the past two years since my dad died. How do I gain control... View More
answered on Jul 1, 2024
A power of attorney expires when the maker dies. When your dad died, any power of attorney he signed naming your sister ended.
Since your father left a will and you are an heir under that will, you have the right to file an application for probate of the will. If someone else (e.g. your... View More
The taxes is there anyway to have them reduced since I'm not living on land mostly just shrub and trees. I also found out hunting is going on as I seen 6 lookout huts in trees? Also found oil wells on my land
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answered on Jul 1, 2024
Start out by hiring a TX attorney to search the title.
answered on Jun 28, 2024
Property that is jointly titled does not automatically pass to the survivor unless specifically titled as "joint with right of survivorship." Otherwise, each owner on the title owns an undivided 50% interest in the property that passes to that owner's heirs as provided by law.... View More
Can you expand on the true meaning of this Article? Was it simply meant to deal with the re-construction era after the Civil War or does it expand beyond that time period to actually mean what it says - The United States obligates itself to protect all citizens in every state of the union... View More
answered on Jun 26, 2024
I am almost certain that a lawsuit would not be successful. I seriously question whether you have standing unless those foreign military invaders have injured you or damaged your property.
If you have evidence of Russian or Chinese armed forces invading Texas, you should immediately... View More
if so could i get the will removed from the record? having a two year long battle in court one would think this information would put the cat in the bag. Nothing was ever mentioned of it.....She also wrote the will this notary and she told me that will is not the one she wrote for my grandparents.
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answered on Jun 24, 2024
If you think you are an heir, then hire a TX attorney to contest the Will being Probated. If no Probate, then "Will" means nothing.
answered on Jun 18, 2024
As a general rule, a spouse is not liable for a debt incurred by the other spouse unless the debt was incurred for "necessaries" (e.g. food, clothing, shelter) or the spouse was acting as an agent for the other spouse. Obviously, if you had jointly signed on a debt or filed a joint tax... View More
I live in Texas
answered on Jun 18, 2024
In order for your assets to go to a specific person, you need a valid Texas Will to handle your probate assets, or you need to name that person as the beneficiary on the assets/accounts for non-probate assets.
Failure to do do either of those may give others a right to those assets, or... View More
Mother's only property is checking and savings account in California and a checking account in Texas. My sister and I are a co-owners of the California account and I'm the principal owner of the Texas account. Total value is under $70,000.
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answered on Jun 18, 2024
I notice you refer to your sister as executrix. Is this based on the writing of the Will or did you go through probate? A Will has no legal effect until it has been deemed to comply with all the laws of the state, typically by going through probate. If your sister was appointed by a probate court... View More
My Brother's (ages 18 & 26) Father died in May 2021. The home is paid off, but everything is in their deceased Father's name. Vehicles, Property,Bills etc... my brother was told he needs to get Probate taken care of in order to have everything transfered in his name. What are the... View More
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answered on Jun 5, 2024
There are some issues that need to be addressed. There is a 3 year time limit on filing for a Probate or Administration for an Estate in TX.
Since there was NO WILL, there MUST be an Administration filed to establish an Estate and to administer the same. An Administration is filed when... View More
There was a will put in place in 1973 my grandmother passed away in 2015 the probate was never challenged and my father passed away in 2019 my grandmother only had two children did my aunt having power of attorney give her the ability to override the wheel?
answered on Jun 3, 2024
A power of attorney ends when the principle who signed the power of attorney dies. A will does not go into effect until it is probated and a will can only be probated after the individual who signed it dies. So the attorney-in-fact named in a power of attorney cannot override a will.
My SS retirement income and personal resources make me eligible, but there's also a 30 year old, irrevocable, testamentary, spendthrift trust from my father in which I am the beneficiary, and the trustee has full discretion regarding any disbursements .
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answered on May 28, 2024
As a general rule, the Social Security Administration takes the position that if a trust beneficiary does not have the legal authority to revoke or terminate a third party trust (a trust created by neither the beneficiary nor the beneficiary's spouse) or to direct the use of the trust assets... View More
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