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Four Things Your Spouse Should Know Before You Die
September 27th, 2023
It is normal for spouses to share almost every aspect of their lives with each other. But when it comes to death, even the closest couples might become tight-lipped about certain topics. According to one study, half of all couples fail to discuss the…
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Collecting A Debt on Behalf of Your Deceased Loved One
September 20th, 2023
People often engage in transactions that result in money being owed to them, such as loaning money to a friend or business partner or renting a house to a tenant. But what happens if someone passes away before they receive payback of that debt, the m…
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Bills and Services to Cancel—and Keep—When a Loved One Dies
September 13th, 2023
A loved one’s passing is challenging on many different levels. In addition to the emotional difficulty of processing someone’s death, there are also the many tasks that must be dealt with, such as going through their various accounts and taking t…
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Categories: Probate
Could a Testamentary Trust Be What Your Loved Ones Need?
September 6th, 2023
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 avo…
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Why You Want to Avoid Intestacy
August 9th, 2023
About two out of three Americans will die without a will. This is known as dying intestate. While the reasons for not having a will vary, the end result is the same for everyone: they do not get to choose who receives their property when they die. In…
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Aaron Carter: A Life Gone Too Soon
April 12th, 2023
Musician Aaron Carter, a former child pop star and younger brother of Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter, died last November at the age of thirty-four. Aaron’s untimely passing is one of the more tragic celebrity deaths of 2022. It is also one of t…
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Ways You Can Revoke a Will
March 29th, 2023
A will (which should be accompanied by other important documents such as healthcare and financial powers of attorney, as well as an advance healthcare directive) is a foundational estate planning document. However, according to Gallup, only 46 percen…
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The Pros and Cons of Probate
March 1st, 2023
In estate planning circles, the word probate often carries a negative connotation. Indeed, for many people—especially those with valuable accounts and property—financial planners and others recommend trying to keep accounts and property out of pr…
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Three Tips for Overwhelmed Executors
January 24th, 2023
While it is an honor to be named as a trusted decision maker, also known as an executor or personal representative, it can often be a sobering and daunting responsibility. Being an executor requires a high level of organization, foresight, and attent…
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Why a Trust Can Be the Best Option to Avoid Probate
October 28th, 2022
Ideally, when someone passes away, the paperwork and material concerns associated with the deceased’s passing are so seamlessly handled (thanks to excellent preparation) that they fade into the background, allowing the family and other loved ones t…
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Attorney Jana McCreary
Houston Estate Planning Attorney Jana R. McCreary has been an attorney for over twenty years, a career move she made after working for over a decade with adults and children with intellectual disabilities and mental illness. Graduating summa cum laud… Read More