From our office in Lubbock, Texas, we represent individuals, families, estates and trusts throughout West Texas in the preservation, management, and transfer of wealth. We also regularly advise individual and corporate fiduciaries in connection with the administration of large and complex estates and trusts. Our practice includes the organization of public and private charitable and nonprofit institutions and providing counsel for these organizations on tax and corporate compliance issues.

• Estate Planning

  We are estate planning attorneys with the goal of minimizing the effect of taxes on our clients' estates and maintaining flexibility to provide for future events that our clients may not foresee. We strive to address changing family circumstances and investment climates.

• Elder Law

  Always aware of privacy and cost, we provide life planning advice through the use of:

  1. Durable Powers of Attorney
  2. Living Wills
  3. Medical Powers of Attorney

  When you need a knowledgeable and discrete elder law attorney, you can count on us.

• Probate and Estate Administration

  Our estate and probate administration practice includes not only estates of decedents but also guardianships, conservatorships, trusts, and other tax planning alternatives.

• Estate and Probate Litigation

  We represent individuals in disputes that arise in connection with wills, trusts, estates, probate. We also are experienced in the issues that arise when an individual dies without a will (intestate). We represent both fiduciaries (executors, trustees, conservators, guardians and attorneys-in-fact) and beneficiaries, with will contests and trust contests. When representing probate litigation clients, our goal is a prompt resolution of the disputes in a way that protects and advances our client's interests and rights.

At Ward & Freels, we apply our technical expertise, imagination and consistent energy to each estate planning, probate and estate administration matter we handle. Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for you.

Wills and Trusts - An Overview

Imagine you are thirty or forty or fifty. You own a nice four-bedroom house in a decent neighborhood. You have two, maybe three kids. You have life insurance, a pretty good health plan and a retirement plan that you have tried to put something in every year. You have some money saved, but not enough to retire and play golf for the rest of your life. You work hard and you are involved with your children's activities. You are a busy responsible parent who doesn't have a lot of extra time or money. Why would you need a Will, Trust, or broader estate plan? An experienced estate planning attorney can answer that question, as well as others you may have about your family's financial future.

Imagine you become ill or are injured. Imagine you are so ill that you are put on a respirator and fed intravenously for years. During those years the assets held in your name are used to help pay for extraordinary care you never wanted. What is not used to pay for the extraordinary means just sits. No one watches over your investments or, perhaps, pays the taxes that are due. Your minor children are given a court appointed guardian you have never met.

Now imagine dying before you got around to preparing your Will. You wanted to be an organ donor, but you never told anyone. You wanted to be cremated and have your ashes scattered at sea, but you never told anyone that either. You assumed that your children would be taken care of with the money from your insurance policy but much of that money is eaten up by estate taxes. You also wanted to be sure to provide something for your sister who has fallen on hard times and you wanted your wedding ring to go to your daughter. Instead, your sister inherits nothing and your ring is sold with the profits divided between your children.

No one likes to contemplate death or the possibility of years of illness or disability that may lead up to it. Yet the thoughtful creation of estate planning documents like Wills and Trusts now, established with the assistance of a knowledgeable attorney is the best way to control your own future. You gain a measure of control in all end-of-life situations and YOU get to decide how and to whom your assets will pass.

Wills & Trusts: The Backbone of a Plan for the Future

A Will is a written or oral communication by a person stating how they want their property disposed of at death. A Trust is a legal arrangement that allows one person to hold some kind of legal interest or right for the benefit of another person. Wills, Trusts and other estate planning documents are generally known in the law as Instruments.

Wills and Trusts are not just for the wealthy; they are for anyone who wants to look after themselves, their children, and their property. There are a wide variety of different kinds of Wills and Trusts available. An attorney with experience in Wills and Trusts will help you chose the specific combination of Instruments that lets you plan best for:

• Decision making should illness or disability incapacitate you;
• The payment of various state and federal taxes; and
• Distribution of your assets to the people you choose.

The actual Instruments used will depend upon the specific circumstances of your unique life situation.

What Wills Do

A written Will is the cornerstone of many estate plans. A written Will, prepared by an experienced attorney, allows you to:

• Select the person responsible for carrying out the wishes you set forth in the Will. This individual is known as the executor or personal representative;
  
• Direct the payment of debts and taxes;
  
• Make specific bequests or gifts of tangible property like family heirlooms or sentimental items. (It is always useful to add, "If owned by me at the time of my death" in case the item has been sold or lost);
  
• Control the distribution of the remainder (residue) of your other property;
  
• Name a guardian or guardians for your minor children and their property; and/or
  
• Specify your preferred burial arrangements.

A court will consider a document to be a valid Will if, looking only at the document itself, it finds that it was intended to be the final expression of the person's wishes. Additionally, the person creating the Will must be of "sound mind". While each state varies in its specific requirements, sound mind is usually established in court through showing that the person making the Will:

• Was legally old enough to understand what they were doing (usually 18 years old);
• Knew what assets they owned;
• Directed the disposition of those assets to people or institutions generally expected to receive them; and
• Understood that, by signing it, the Will makes a final disposition of property. This requirement generally only requires that the person understand the Will and its contents at the time of signing. Thus, a person who is failing mentally but still has "good" days can make a Will during one of these lucid periods as long as the person understands what they are signing

Usually, a letter stating one's desires or a list of property is not sufficient to pass this test. There are many types of Wills including holographic wills, video wills, and self-proving wills and each has it own requirements in order to make it valid. While each state law varies, a Will must also generally have witnesses in order to be valid.

What Trusts Do

A Trust is a legal property interest held by one person (called the trustee) for the benefit of another person (called the beneficiary). The person establishing the Trust is called the grantor. A Trust can be revocable or irrevocable. Revocable trusts may be changed or terminated by the grantor at any time and for any reason. An Irrevocable Trust, once established, cannot be terminated or altered for any reason. A Trust designed to go into effect upon your death is called Testamentary Trust. However, experienced estate planning attorneys often use Living Trusts, created while you are still alive, as way of avoiding probate and its associated costs.

Trusts allow the trustee to direct or control the property or other legal rights that are in the Trust. Trustees have a legal duty to make decisions regarding the Trust property in the best interests of the beneficiary. In addition to true legal Trusts, other Trust-like Instruments that you may use to involve others in the execution of your wishes include:

• Power of Attorney: A Power of Attorney gives someone you trust the ability to make decisions for you, when you are incapacitated. That person does not have to be an attorney although he/she will be known as your "attorney in fact". A Power of Attorney can be used to address broad issues such as medical care (a Health Care Power of Attorney or Health Care Proxy), and it can also be used to address very narrow issues such as the purchase of a single parcel of real estate.
  
• Advanced Medical Directive and Living Wills: In an Advanced Medical Directive you make your choices regarding medical care known for all situations should you become incapacitated. A Living Will is a more narrow form of Advanced Medical Directive, generally limited to situations in which death is imminent. Every state recognizes a patient's right to make fundamental choices as to the care and treatment he/she will receive at or near the end of life and will thus honor the terms of most Living Wills and Advanced Medical Directives (Health Care Proxy).

Conclusion

Wills, Trusts and other estate planning Instruments allow you to take control of the future. Through the careful selection and creation of the various kinds of Wills and Trusts available, you get to chose how your own potential disability and death is managed and you get to say how the people you care for most will be treated when you are gone. The advice and assistance of an experienced Wills and Trusts attorney is essential to making sure that the measures you choose comply with your state's law and truly carry out your wishes. 

Frequently Asked Questions about Wills and Trusts

Q: What is probate?

A: Probate is a court-supervised process that includes:

• Evaluating and deciding on the validity of your Will (if you have one).
  
  
• Gathering all of your assets, making an inventory of those assets, and having the assets appraised.
  
  
• Paying your outstanding expenses, debts and taxes (generally paid in the following order: costs and expenses involved with the administration of your estate, funeral expenses, debts and taxes, all other claims).
  
  
• Distributing the remaining assets to the person(s) entitled to them.

Q: What assets are included in my Probate Estate?

A: The assets that are included in your estate for purposes of probate are called your probate estate. Assets include: solely owned property as well as your interest in jointly owned property, collections, antiques and other miscellaneous household items, cars etc, and the value of any life insurance policies, trusts, annuities, and/or retirement plans payable to the estate. The fact that your probate estate is small does not necessarily mean that your taxable estate will be as well. Remember, just because an asset is not part of your probate estate does not mean that it is not part of your taxable estate.

Q: Where does Probate take place?

A: Probate takes place in the county that was your legal residence at the time of your death. Probate is a court-supervised process that takes place in Probate (or Surrogate) Court. Out of state property will be subject to proceedings in that state as well.