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Probate Practice Areas
 

When someone dies, their estate generally must go through probate. Probate is the process whereby an executor is appointed and given letters testamentary by a court enabling the executor to legally enforce the decedent's will and act the decedent's behalf. If someone died without a will, an administrator is appointed instead. Both the executor and administrator are responsible to transfer title to the property the decedent owned, access and distribute the decedent's bank accounts to the heirs, and wrap up the decedent's other affairs.

If a decedent dies owning a home or land, the heirs usually cannot sell the property until the decedent's estate is probated. Furthermore, unless the decedent's bank accounts specify a pay on death beneficiary, only the executor or administrator appointed by the court can access the funds to distribute them to the heirs. Often it isn't till an heir tries to sell land or access a bank account that they realize the decedent's estate needs to be probated.

Under Texas Law, a will must be probated within 4 years from the date the decedent died, otherwise an executor cannot be appointed. This increases the need for family members to get accurate legal advice as soon as possible after a loved one dies.

  

At The Voeller Law Firm, we specialize in the following areas of practice:

Estate Planning
Trusts
Wills
Gun Trusts
Probate
Business Planning
LLC's
Partnerships
Corporations
Elder Law
Medicaid Planning
Veterans Benefits Planning
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James N. Voeller and David G. Voeller, the attorneys at The Voeller Law firm, specialize in Estate and Business Planning, Probate, and Elder Law. Their specialties included designing complete estate plans which may include Revocable Living Trusts and Irrevocable Trusts for probate avoidance, incapacity planning, asset protection, and safeguarding inheritances. Additional items we included in our comprehensive estate plans are powers of attorney, medical powers of attorney, declarations of guardian, living wills, Pour-over wills and HIPAA authorization forms. Other estate planning solutions we provide include Firearms or Gun Trusts and Special Needs Trusts. Gun Trusts allow the ownership of NFA regulated firearms including suppressors or silencers, and machine gun. Gun Trusts provide added protection from criminal liability for the owners of NFA Regulated firearms. Special Needs Trusts help ensure that children or adults with special needs are able to receive the support they need without being disqualified from public assistance benefits. Our Elder Law services include helping people who might otherwise have too many assets to qualifying for Medicaid and VA benefits restructure their estates so they can qualify. We work to help people qualify for Medicaid benefits and VA Aid and Attendance Pension benefits without having to spend down their estates. We are accredited by the Veterans Administration. Our business planning services include setting up Limited Liability Companies (L.L.C.'s), Limited Partnerships (L.P.) and Family Limited Partnerships (F.L.P.'s) to protect assets, provide orderly business operation and succession, and reduce taxes. Our probate services provide help and peace of mind to families who have lost a loved one. We work to ensure the probate process is completed efficiently, in an orderly manner, and as quickly as possible.