A recent Austin Court of Appeals decision in Texas Health and Human Services Commission v. Estate of Clyde L. Burt, answers an important Medicaid qualification question.  Is an applicant required to reside in a home prior to seeking nursing care in order for the home to be considered an excludable resource  under the Medicaid rules? [Read opinion here.] Background Clyde and Dorothy Burt bought a home in 1974 and lived there until December 2010 at which time they sold the home to their daughter, Linda Wallace, and moved into… Read More →

Recently, I’ve gotten a number of requests from folks wondering what end-of-life documents they should have in place and whether there are forms they can use in order to do so.  For Texas residents, there are actually a number of statutory forms that can be used for many of the end-of-life documents one should have in place. Importantly, understand these are merely end-of-life documents.  There are many other considerations to consider as part of a broader estate plan for which statutory forms do not exist.  This includes wills,… Read More →

An opinion from the Corpus Christi Court of Appeals last year is a great review of the legal requirements to execute a valid will in Texas. Background Pedro Vera passed away in August 2018.  In October 2018, his former neighbor, Mr. Sanchez, filed an application for probate of Mr. Vera’s holographic (handwritten) will.  Sanchez produced a holographic will purportedly drafted and signed by Mr. Vera on November 25, 2010, during a Thanksgiving dinner. Mr. Vera’s brother, Hector, contested the probate application, claiming that the signature on the holographic… Read More →

Dr. Justin Benavidez and I are working on a cool project sponsored by Texas Corn Producers.  We are conducting an anonymous survey to look at the current estate and business planning situation for Texas farmers, ranchers, and rural landowners.  We will use the information gathered to plan programming and resources going forward.   For this to be successful, we need your help!  Please take a couple of minutes and complete our online survey by clicking here.   If you’d prefer a paper copy, we are glad to send you one along… Read More →

Earlier this year, Texas Corn Producers asked me to work with them on a really important project.  Successful Succession is focused on providing information and resources for farm and ranch families to plan for the future.  We worked together to create a resource guide and a three-hour video series discussing issues related to estate and succession planning for farm and ranch families.  Thanks to grant funding from the Southern Extension Risk Management Education Center, these resources are available for free on the Texas Corn Producers website. These issues… Read More →