As poet Robert Burns mused centuries ago, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Despite thoughtful effort and a concerted strategy, you cannot prepare for every emergency in life. A car accident, sudden illness, workplace injury, or chronic medical condition can force you to reevaluate the core assumptions you used to plan […]
Revocable Living Trust
Five Essential Legal Documents You Need for Incapacity Planning from Austin Estate Planning Attorney Liz Nielsen
Comprehensive estate planning involves more than just planning for your legacy after your death, avoiding probate, and reducing taxes. Good estate planning also appoints people to make legal, financial, and medical decisions for you if you are alive but unable to make those decisions for yourself (in other words, if you are incapacitated). While no […]
Could a Testamentary Trust Be What Your Loved Ones Need? by Austin Estate Planning Attorney Liz Nielsen
One of the main reasons that a person creates a revocable living trust (a trust established during a person’s lifetime that they can amend or revoke) instead of relying on a will to transfer their money and property to their beneficiaries is to avoid probate. Probate is the court process during which a person’s will […]
Have You Chosen the Right Trustee? from Austin Estate Planning Attorney Liz Nielsen
Whether you are reviewing your existing trust or creating a new trust, you should understand the important role that trustees play not only in handling trust matters but also in providing for and protecting your loved ones. What is a Trust? A trust is an agreement between an owner of accounts and property (Trustmaker/Grantor) and […]