Legal Updates Empowering You and Your Business
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Family estate planning issues arise far too often when a child takes financial advantage of a parent who is mentally incompetent because of dementia or other mental infirmities. This is why it is so important to plan our estates while we still have our mental faculties and to put trustworthy people in charge who have…
Contingent trust beneficiary. A contingent trust beneficiary is one who does not have the right to receive benefits under a specific trust until the occurrence of a future event. Typically, a contingent beneficiary’s right to receive benefits under the trust would vest upon the death of one or more named beneficiaries. The question often arises…
The Texas legislature made numerous changes to state laws in the estate planning area including to statutory provisions that govern wills, trusts, probate, and financial powers of attorney. One substantive change to the Durable Power of Attorney Act limits the scope of the fiduciary duties owed by the appointed agent to his principal (person granting the power) under a financial power of attorney.
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On May 26, 2017, the Texas Supreme Court refused to recognize the existence of a cause of action for tortious interference with inheritance rights. Kinsel v Lindsey, 15-0403, 2017 WL 2324392 (Tex. May 26, 2017). Many Texas courts have long considered this to be a viable cause of action since the 1987 decision of …
A recent court of appeals discussed the significance of the fiduciary relationship created when someone signs a power of attorney authorizing another to act as their agent. (Jordan v. Lyles, 485 S.W.3d 785 (Tex. App. – Tyler 2015)). In this case, Bud executed a durable power of attorney appointing his stepdaughter as his…