What is an indemnity agreement in Texas probate? Learn when banks require one before releasing estate funds and what happens if you refuse.
What is an indemnity agreement in Texas probate? Learn when banks require one before releasing estate funds and what happens if you refuse.
A will is a snapshot. It captures what someone wanted on the day they signed it. Life keeps moving after that. People die, marriages end, children are born, and the trusts and companies named in the document quietly wind down on their own schedules. The will does not update itself. Most people know what happens […]
Estate fights get personal fast when a house is on the line. A dependent administrator decides the family home has to be sold to pay debts. The heirs see the property as theirs. So when the probate court signs an order allowing the sale, the first instinct is to run to the court of appeals […]
Selling real estate owned by a church or other organization is rarely as simple as signing a contract. The entity has its own governance, its own approval requirements, and its own internal dynamics — and any one of those can turn a straightforward sale into a fight. When those internal issues collide with the technical […]
When a grandparent steps in as both the executor of a child’s estate and the trustee of trusts set up for the grandchildren, family loyalty can blur what the law actually requires. A grandfather who pays for tuition, covers living expenses, and quietly handles the family’s money looks nothing like a wrongdoer. But the legal […]
When a probate court enters a final judgment — say, authorizing a lender to foreclose on estate property — that decision is supposed to be the end of the road. But what happens when someone keeps filing new lawsuits, in different courts, trying to undo that same result? At what point does the legal system […]
Most people assume a will has to be signed at the bottom of the last page containing the estate plan’s provisions. When a testator’s signature appears on a completely separate page, one containing no dispositive language, does the will fail to meet Texas’s execution requirements? This seemingly technical question can determine whether an entire estate […]
When a loved one dies, leaving behind multiple wills executed over many years, family members who believe they should inherit often face a threshold question: do they even have standing to challenge the most recent will? The answer is complicated when an older, self-proved will exists that would control even if the newest will is […]
In specialized Texas probate proceedings, courts at times order one party to pay the other party’s attorney fees. However, specific statutes, rules, or case law must permit fee-shifting, and sufficient evidence must support the amount awarded. The Mortensen v. Villegas, 630 S.W.3d 355 (Tex. App. – El Paso [8th Dist.] 2021) case explores the standards […]
The death of an incapacitated ward does not immediately end a guardianship or a guardianship proceeding. Texas law requires the settlement of a guardianship after a ward’s death, which may involve resolving pending reimbursement claims, fee requests, accountings, and other unfinished business. The In re Semrad, No. 01-21-00491-CV (Tex. App.–Houston [1st. Dist.] 2023) case provides […]