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This article provides steps to conduct a proper Illinois will execution ceremony that will protect against later contests and disputes.

This article discusses thirty cases relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters.

The textual content of PowerPoint slides used at an ALI CLE presentation on estate planning for pet owners.

This article suggests the proper steps and format for a Texas will execution ceremony which can help prevent future will contests.

This article provides advice for estate planners wanting to avoid malpractice liability exposure, potential acts of malpractice, and potential unethical conduct. The author offers methods which attorneys may use to detect and avoid these situations.

This article discusses why one would use a Lady Bird deed (enhanced life estate deeds) and what other alternatives exist. Concerns surrounding the use of Lady Bird deeds are also addressed.

Published in Vol. 58, No.9 of Trusts and Estates, the newsletter of the Illinois State Bar Association's Section on Trusts and Estates, When preparing wills for clients, attorneys must determine whether a client has a communication challenge and then proceed in such a way so that the communication challenge will not negatively affect the will’s validity. This article offers techniques that will reduce the likelihood of will invalidations for communicationally challenged testators who are visually impaired, hearing or speaking impaired, physically unable to sign, illiterate, or non-English speaking.

Co-authored by Naomi Cahn, Clients increasingly need help to determine how digital assets will be managed upon their death. This article addresses why attorneys and clients should include digital assets in estate plans, how to actually plan for digital assets, potential obstacles to planning for digital assets, and predictions for what the future may hold.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

This article discusses the role legal assistants play in the estate planning practice and includes reasons to use paralegals, the regulation of the paralegal profession, the proper and improper uses of legal assistants, and recommendations for how to maximize the benefits of services provided by legal assistants.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

Probate can be complicated, and having access to a resource containing probate forms can make the probate process more straightforward. This book contains forms for estate administration and guardianship matters.

A quick overview of some of the 2011 Texas probate law court cases.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

A brief summary of laws enacted by the 2011 Texas legislative session. Topics addressed include the Texas estates code, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters.

Only two states (Oklahoma and Idaho) have statutes that directly address digital assets in a probate context - and then only in the administration phase. Few estate planners provide digital asset planning for their clients, which may lead to significant problems as these assets are increasingly valuable and difficult to handle without proper planning. This Study reviews the following aspects of digital asset planning: Importance; Results without planning; Planning techniques; and Obstacles.

This article discusses several popular loyalty and frequent flyer programs and their policies on transferring accrued benefits to beneficiaries upon the owners’ deaths. Advice is given to attorneys and members of these programs to help prevent the loss of these benefits upon death.

Various methods used by law professors around the country to give students experiential learning in wills, trusts, and estate related matters.

An estate planner must always be on guard when drafting instruments that may supply incentive for someone to contest a will. Anytime an individual would take more through intestacy or under a prior will, the potential for a will contest exists, especially if the estate is large. Although will contests are relatively rare, the prudent attorney must recognize situations that are likely to inspire a will contest and take steps during the drafting stage to reduce the probability of a will contest action and the chances of its success. This article examines the situations which provide an enhanced likelihood of a will contest and then details the techniques a prudent attorney should consider. An important caveat is in order. Although this article discusses a wide range of strategies that may be helpful in preventing will contests, these techniques vary widely in both cost and predictability of results. There is no uniform approach to use for all clients. Each situation needs to be carefully examined on its own merits before deciding which, if any, of the techniques should be used.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

Enhanced life estate deeds are also known as Lady Bird deeds and allow a grantor to transfer property to beneficiaries while retaining a life estate in the property coupled with the power to sell, convey, or mortgage the property without the beneficiaries’ consent. Texas is one of the few states that permit Lady Bird deeds. This article discusses the basics of Lady Bird deeds, some of the reasons to use such a deed, and alternatives to Lady Bird deeds.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

This working paper discusses the basics of Texas intestate succession law followed by a discussion of a variety of issues and updates which may affect the intestacy distribution scheme. Power point slides are included which highlight the issues discussed in the paper.

A discussion of seven Texas Supreme Court cases and several other non-Texas Supreme Court cases that will have an effect on Texas estate planning.

This article discusses judicial developments relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters. The article covers approximately twenty-five cases that were reported from mid-2009 to mid-2010. The discussion of each case concludes with a moral, i.e., the important lesson to be learned from the case. By recognizing situations that have led to time consuming and costly litigation in the past, estate planners can reduce the likelihood of the same situations arising with their clients.

This article discusses the history of in terrorem clauses and the enforcement of in terrorem clauses in Texas. Next, the author discusses the intent of the passage of HB 1969 and how it may change the enforcement of in terrorem clauses in Texas. Techniques are given in which Texas testators and settlors may try to avoid limits imposed by HB 1969 on in terrorem clause enforcement.

Video recording the will execution ceremony may offer protection against future will contests. This article discusses the uses and admissibility of will execution video recording, video recordings’ advantages and disadvantages over other types of evidence, and the proper procedure and format for videotaping a will execution ceremony.

This brief commentary posits that estate planning lawyers may be ethically obligated to inquire about their clients’ pets so they can make certain those pets are properly cared for when clients are unable to do so due to injury, illness, or death. The commentary provides four steps a pet owner should take to assure that his or her pet will receive proper care immediately when the owner can no longer provide it. The commentary also lists eight items a pet owner should consider in planning for a pet’s long-term care upon the owner’s demise.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

In this book, the authors cover a range of options to provide for our pets' future under such circumstances when we are no longer mentally or physically able to take care of them. The authors also discuss a number of related topics, such as pet retirement homes, pre-planning after-death arrangements for pets, and working around special problems associated with exotic pets.

This collection provides complete coverage of development of marital property law, separate or community property, personal injury, title to minerals in a marital estate, trust property, partnership and marital property, real estate, life and other insurance, disability and retirement, interspousal agreements, tracing through mutations, reimbursement rights, management of marital property, liability of marital property, inception of title, presumptions and recitals, recovery under the death statute, division on divorce, division of property on void or voidable relationships, division of marital property on death, types of homesteads, acquisition and abandonment of homesteads, homestead exemption and use, and transfer and mortgage of homestead.

Co-Authored by Charles O. Galvin, This manual is designated for use by members of the Texas Bar. The manual contains an assortment of forms intended to help Texas legal practitioners draft wills. The forms listed in this manual are aimed at helping Texas attorneys draft wills for a variety of legal situations.

Most Americans want to provide for their pets upon the owners death. However, few actually do because pet owners either do not plan their estates or their estate planning attorneys do not explain the process of making such arrangements. Lawyers should make inquiries about their clients’ pets and make the proper arrangements so that the pets are properly cared for when the client no longer has the ability to do so themselves. This article provides information to help attorneys arrange for the care of their clients’ pets.

This supplement, published by West and written by Gerry W. Beyer, contains volumes nine and ten of the Texas Law of Wills in the Texas Practice Series. Volume nine contains Part I, Intestate Succession, and the beginning of Part II, Wills. Volume ten contains the remainder of Part II, Wills. In total, Volumes nine and ten consist of sixty-nine chapters with multiple sections within each chapter discussing the law of wills in Texas. The supplement also contains a detailed table of contents, a table of laws and rules, a table of cases, and an index.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

Wind energy is becoming an important component of our nation’s trend towards green energy. Attorneys must carefully determine how wind rights will be treated when preparing wills for clients. This article discusses how attorneys can effectively draft provisions to transfer clients’ wind rights in wills.

A review of laws enacted during the 2009 Texas legislative session. Topics addressed include wills, trusts, estate administration, intestacy, the estates code, and other estate planning matters.

In this book, Professor Beyer analyzes the text of the Texas Property Code and cases interpreting the Code. Beyer’s commentary provides the reader with an authoritative guide to the application of the Code. The full text of the Texas Property Code is included in the book as well as relevant portions of the Texas Constitution, Texas Business and Commerce Code, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Family Code, Finance Code, Government Code, Health and Safety Code, Local Government Code, Tax Code, Transportation Code, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, and Texas Title Examination Standards. Beyer also provides references to secondary sources like Texas Jurisprudence, Texas forms publications, American Jurisprudence Trials, American Law Reports annotations, and CLE and law review materials to facilitate further research., http://oasis.law.ttu.edu/record=b1614421, http://www.amazon.com/Beyers-Texas-Property-Code-Annotated/dp/0314996206/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1458573710&sr=8-7&keywords=Beyer%27s+Texas+Property+Code+Annotated

This article discusses legislative and judicial developments relating to Texas law on intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters during the Survey period of October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. Not all newly enacted statutes and decided cases during the Survey period are presented, and not all aspects of each cited statute and case are analyzed. You must read and study the full text of each statute and case before relying on it or using it as precedent. The discussion of most cases includes a moral that is the important lesson to be learned by the case. By recognizing situations that may have resulted in time consuming and costly litigation in the past, the reader may be able to reduce the likelihood of the same situations arising with his or her clients (taken from introduction to article).

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.

A look at selected recent cases, rulings and regulations, literature, and legislation.