Estate Planning
An estate plan is a set of instruments that must work together on the worst day — and most were drafted without reading the operating agreement, the deed, or the beneficiary designations they’re supposed to coordinate. The firm builds estate plans as integrated systems: wills and trusts drafted alongside the entity documents, real property addressed with the right transfer instruments (including transfer-on-death deeds under the Texas Estates Code where they fit), and the federal transfer-tax exposure analyzed with LL.M.-level rigor rather than a rule of thumb.
Services
SIX ITEMS- Wills, revocable trusts, and pour-over structures
- Powers of attorney and medical directives
- Transfer-on-death deeds and non-probate transfer instruments
- Beneficiary designation coordination across accounts and policies
- Transfer-tax analysis and lifetime gifting strategy
- Plan integration with entity, partnership, and buy-sell documents
Representative Experience
FOUR MATTERSEstate planning integrated with family entity structures — including family limited partnership arrangements designed with the recognized planning risk areas (retained control, valuation, transfer restrictions) addressed in the drafting.
Counsel on Texas transfer-on-death instruments for real property, including commercial property and the lender-notification questions they raise.
Drafting of wills and core estate-planning instruments structured to carry out each client’s distribution and succession objectives.
Lady bird (enhanced life estate) deeds and related instruments transferring Texas real property outside probate, and transfers of real property into limited liability companies for holding, asset-protection, and succession purposes. More →
Representative matters. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Process
FOUR STEPSInventory and objectives
Assets, entities, family, and what “done right” means to you.
Plan design memo
The structure, the tax analysis, and the reasons.
Drafting
The complete instrument set, internally consistent.
Execution and funding
Signing ceremony, deed and designation work, and a maintenance schedule.
FAQs
THREE QUESTIONSI have a will from years ago. Isn’t that enough?
A will that predates your current entities, property, or family situation coordinates with none of them. Plans age faster than people expect.
Do I need a trust?
Sometimes — for probate avoidance, management during incapacity, or tax structure. Sometimes a will and well-drafted non-probate transfers do the work at half the complexity. The design memo answers this honestly.
How does my LLC fit into my estate plan?
Through the operating agreement — its transfer and death provisions either cooperate with your plan or defeat it. The firm drafts both, so they cooperate.