When a homeowner dies without a will, the family often assumes the mortgage dies too, or that the bank will sort things out in probate before anyone has to worry about it. That assumption can be dangerously wrong. It can land surviving family members in federal court facing foreclosure on the family home. Here is...KEEP READING

When a veteran receives VA disability pay, federal law says those funds belong to the veteran alone. But that protection gets tested the moment the money lands in a joint bank account shared with a spouse. Does mixing those payments with community funds wipe out the veteran’s separate property rights? It comes up all the...KEEP READING

When a fire destroys a building and kills the tenant, the owner naturally looks to the tenant’s estate for money. That instinct may be sound as to the underlying claim. But having a claim against an estate and having the right to challenge how that estate is probated are two very different things under Texas...KEEP READING

When your right to participate in a probate case depends on whether your divorce was valid — and that divorce is still being fought on appeal — should the probate court wait for the answer? Or can it go ahead and throw you out? That question sits at the intersection of family law and probate...KEEP READING

Can a family member who is not a beneficiary of a trust force the trustee to produce a copy of the trust? What if there is a genuine dispute and litigation going between the family members? Can the family member who is not named in the trust then obtain a copy of the trust? From...KEEP READING

When someone dies, leaving a will that names a family member as executor, most assume that person will automatically serve. The reality is more complex. Texas probate courts have broad discretion to reject a named executor if circumstances suggest unsuitability. What happens when the named executor admits to pointing a gun at another heir? This...KEEP READING