Marriage as a legal institution has taken a variety of forms throughout history. As society evolves, how we identify marriage in our society also changes. While not lawful everywhere, in Texas a couple may be deemed married without having participated in judicial or religious ceremonies. These marriages are called common law marriages. Their existence creates […]
An important element of creating an estate plan is choosing a responsible party to handle your legal, medical, and financial affairs if you become unable to manage them yourself (i.e., become incapacitated) or die. The individual or entity you choose must be someone whom you can trust to make crucial and often time-sensitive decisions, who […]
When you met with an attorney a few weeks ago, perhaps all you expected was a simple will. Maybe you thought that, with your situation, the work should be easy and the documents should be few. But now that you have finished working with the attorney, your parting gift is a large binder filled with […]
Despite what some believe, children born to unmarried parents are commonplace. Historically, children in this category have been treated poorly by both society and the law. In many cases, they had no right to inherit from either parent. This legal scheme eventually changed and provided means for these children to inherit from their mothers, but […]
