Many people avoid discussing their plans to organize their affairs before death, and the ones impacted by this failure are the surviving loved ones.
If you fail to create an estate plan, the State of Texas may do it for you, with unintended consequences. Your business interests might pass to an unqualified family member who could bankrupt it. Your grandmother’s diamonds could pass to an undesired party if you do not express your wishes. Talk to a San Antonio estate planning lawyer at Begum Peláez-Prada PLLC about how we can memorialize your lifelong goals.
According to Texas Estates Code § 201.001, Texans who fail to adopt a will die intestate, leaving the probate court to determine who shares assets by a formula. Wills solve this problem because testators name specific beneficiaries who will receive specific assets. Testators can also leave assets to charity or friends that are not factored into the state’s formula and would get nothing without a will.
Testators can also use wills to leave business holdings, such as limited liability company (LLC) member interests, if the LLC operating agreement does not specify a succession plan. As a former in-house counsel and current outside counsel with significant business experience, our founder, Sasha Begum, is a San Antonio lawyer who understands how to treat your business interests during estate planning.
The structure of revocable living trusts permits people to deposit or remove assets and change beneficiaries at any time until death. These trusts circumvent prolonged probate proceedings, with assets administered immediately after a person’s death, when revocable trusts become irrevocable.
Irrevocable trusts own the assets a person deposits into them. Because the trust now owns the assets, the creator cannot modify them. Irrevocable trusts enjoy favorable tax treatment.
You never know when you may be involved in a catastrophic accident, fall gravely ill, or lose the ability to make your own decisions about your medical treatment. The medical power of attorney allows you to appoint an agent, a trusted loved one, or a friend to make medical decisions about your care when you cannot. Durable medical powers of attorney do not take effect until you become incapacitated.
Granting a trusted person the power to make financial decisions for you when you cannot is done through the financial power of attorney (POA). You may wish to give someone else financial POA for various reasons, including incapacitation or even a temporary situation if you are out of the country when a business deal is closing. An agent can also lease property for you and dispose of real estate and personal property to pay your creditors. Our knowledgeable San Antonio attorneys at Begum Peláez-Prada PLLC support you by identifying and explaining estate planning documents that could benefit your situation.
Should your medical condition become terminal, you can refuse extraordinary measures, even if you are unconscious, by having a living will in place. A living will alerts your medical care team that you do not want them to use feeding tubes, ventilators, or any other life-extending measures, allowing you to die naturally and in peace.
We reviewed the most common estate planning documents, but there are others. You may need a trust for a special needs child, or one to care for your pet. Our proactive legal professionals consider your needs now and in the future to determine which documents best benefit you.
At Begum Peláez-Prada PLLC, our skilled attorneys could draft or update your will, establish a family trust, and inform your physician about your final wishes. Schedule a consultation with a San Antonio estate planning lawyer to discuss your future wishes. Call now.
