Houston Estate Planning and Trust Lawyers
How important is your family's success to your spouse, your children and future generations? At Kerr, Hendershot & Cannon, we offer a full range of estate planning services to help you protect your family's assets from the ravaging effects of estate taxes and probate decisions, while you are living and after your death.
Why You Need a Will
Most people know they need a will. Upon your death, your estate will go through a probate process. If you have an updated will in place, probate is a procedural matter, assigning all assets to beneficiaries according to your stated desires. The process is known as 'testate' and protects your surviving spouse and children from the emotional and financial turmoil of a possible court proceeding over disputed assets. Without an updated will, however, the courts consider your estate 'intestate' and have the authority to make decisions regarding the final distribution of assets. While most judges make common-sense decisions to keep your assets in the immediate family, your estate will be open to dispute and litigation from anyone claiming the right to be a beneficiary.
Keep Your Will Up-to-Date
Writing a will, then forgetting about it for many years isn't enough. Family circumstances change. The divorce of an adult child. The death of a beneficiary. Business ownership and succession planning. A significant increase in assets. All are good reasons to make sure your will is comprehensive and updated regularly. An outdated will is open to probate litigation and can result in nearly as many problems for your surviving beneficiaries as having no will at all.
Trusts
Establishing a trust to distribute your assets while you are living, or upon your death, is one of the best ways to reduce taxes on your estate, while ensuring that your estate is disbursed exactly according to your wishes. Kerr, Hendershot & Cannon estate planning attorneys have more than 20 years of experience setting up living trusts, testamentary trusts and insurance trusts to meet every kind of need, including, but certainly not limited to:
- Special needs trusts: to ensure an incapacitated or infirm loved one receives the special care and protection you desire.
- Charitable trusts: to ensure that your favorite religious institution or non-profit organization continues to receive your support, with significant tax savings for you.
- Living trusts: to distribute your assets to family members under restricted conditions, such as education, marriage, purchase of a first house.
- Qualified personal residence trusts: allow you to continue to live in your house while diverting the property value into a trust account, for tax purposes.
Families have been coming to Kerr, Hendershot & Cannon for their estate planning and probate needs for more than 20 years. It is never too early or too late to start protecting your family's success. Start by getting answers to all of your questions about how a will and trust can help you protect your family's security, now and after you are gone.
From our offices in Houston and Corpus Christi, we advise and represent individuals and families in probate and estate planning matters throughout Texas. Contact us to arrange a consultation with an experienced Corpus Christi and Houston will lawyer today.
