Estate Planning

The cost of estate planning depends on the complexity of your situation. A basic will package typically ranges from $500 to $1,500, while a comprehensive trust-based estate plan ranges from $2,000 to $5,000 or more. Factors that affect cost include the number of trusts needed, whether you have a blended family, business interests, or property in multiple states. We provide transparent pricing during your initial consultation so there are no surprises.

Most families benefit from both, because each does something the other cannot. Only a will can name a guardian for your minor children — under Texas Estates Code § 1104.053, a surviving parent may appoint a guardian by will or written declaration, and the court must appoint that person unless they are disqualified, deceased, refuse, or would not serve the children's best interests. A trust has no such power. What a will cannot do is avoid probate: a will is an instruction to a court, so a will-only plan still means a public, months-long court proceeding. A properly funded revocable living trust avoids probate, keeps the terms private, and lets a successor trustee take over immediately if you become incapacitated. The clearest trust triggers are owning real property in more than one state (a will-only plan means a second, ancillary probate in each state) and wanting a controlled distribution over time rather than a lump sum. One warning: a trust only avoids probate for assets actually retitled into it. An unfunded trust is the single most common expensive mistake we see.

Review your estate plan every three to five years, and update it after major life events: marriage, divorce, birth of a child or grandchild, death of a named beneficiary or executor, a significant change in your finances, buying or selling real estate, starting or selling a business, or moving to a new state. Divorce deserves particular attention, because Texas law only half-fixes it for you. Under Texas Estates Code § 123.001, once a marriage is dissolved by divorce, annulment, or a declaration that it is void, every provision of your will is read as if your former spouse — and each of their relatives who is not also your relative — had failed to survive you. That statute reaches your will. It does not reach the beneficiary form on a 401(k) or pension governed by federal ERISA law, which is controlled by the form on file with the plan, not by your will or your divorce decree. An ex-spouse still named on a retirement account is the most common, most invisible, and most expensive failure in an otherwise good estate plan.

Texas writes one for you, and it is probably not the plan you would have chosen. Chapter 201 of the Texas Estates Code controls intestate succession, and it treats community property and separate property differently. The trap that surprises families most involves blended families: if you have children who are not also the children of your surviving spouse, your half of the community property passes to your children rather than to your spouse (§ 201.003), which can leave a surviving spouse co-owning a home with stepchildren. Separate property splits too — the surviving spouse takes one-third of the separate personal property and a life estate in one-third of the separate real property, with the remainder to your children (§ 201.002). Your estate still goes through probate, but with fewer options and a court-appointed administrator instead of the executor you would have chosen. And if you have minor children, the guardian designation you could have made under § 1104.053 simply does not exist, so the court decides without your input.

A living trust is created and funded during your lifetime, so it can hold assets immediately, avoid probate, and provide for management if you become incapacitated. A testamentary trust is written inside your will and does not exist until your will is admitted to probate after your death — the assets must complete probate before the trust can receive them. That timing difference carries a real risk: under Texas Estates Code § 256.003, a will generally must be offered for probate within four years of death, and after that there is a rebuttable presumption the testator intended to revoke it. A testamentary trust in a will nobody probates in time may never come into existence. Living trusts are the usual choice for probate avoidance and incapacity planning; testamentary trusts are still useful inside a will for specific purposes, most often holding a minor child's inheritance until a stated age.

You can, but the execution requirements are where do-it-yourself plans fail, and the failure is only discovered after death when it cannot be fixed. Texas Estates Code § 251.051 requires that an attested will be in writing, signed by the testator (or by another person in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction), and attested by two or more credible witnesses at least 14 years old who subscribe their names in the testator's presence. Texas also recognizes a holographic will wholly in the testator's handwriting under § 251.052, but that form invites contests. Adding a self-proving affidavit under § 251.104 is what lets the will be admitted without tracking down witnesses years later — omit it and your family may need to locate a witness who has moved or died. Beyond execution, generic forms routinely omit trust funding instructions, coordination with beneficiary designations, and Texas-specific durable power of attorney language, so the documents do not work together as a plan.

Probate in Texas follows a statutory sequence, and the deadlines built into it are what actually determine how long it takes. The will is filed in the county of the decedent's residence, the court validates it and issues letters testamentary, and the executor then publishes notice to creditors within one month of receiving letters (Texas Estates Code § 308.051) and files a verified inventory, appraisement, and list of claims within 90 days (§ 309.051). Most Texas estates proceed as independent administration under § 401.001, which lets the executor sell property, pay debts, and distribute assets without a court order for each step. The practical floor on timing is the creditor-claim window: an executor who gives permissive notice under § 308.054 must allow 121 days for a claim to be presented, and distributing before that window closes exposes the executor personally. Six to twelve months is the realistic range for an uncontested independent administration. Assets in a funded trust and accounts with valid beneficiary designations bypass probate — but do not assume a joint bank account does, because Texas does not infer survivorship from the form of the account (§ 113.151(c)).

Yes — have it reviewed even if the documents are technically valid here. Two differences matter most. First, Texas is a community property state, so property acquired during marriage while domiciled here is characterized differently than in a separate-property state, and a plan drafted elsewhere may divide assets in a way that no longer matches how Texas classifies them. Second, Texas has its own execution rules for incapacity documents: a Texas statutory durable power of attorney under Chapter 751 must be signed and acknowledged before an officer authorized to take acknowledgments — notarization, not a two-witness alternative (§ 751.0021(a)(4)). Medical powers of attorney and directives to physicians run under Chapter 166 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, with the statutory directive form at § 166.033. Out-of-state incapacity documents are the ones a Texas hospital, bank, or title company is most likely to question at the worst possible moment, which is why we re-execute them on Texas forms rather than hoping they are honored.