Plain-English guides
Straight answers to the questions Texas families ask most about planning, aging parents and settling an estate — written by an attorney, without the jargon.
Estate Planning
Texas Transfer-on-Death Deeds, Explained
A simple Texas tool that can keep your home out of probate. Also easy to get wrong.
Read the guide →Estate Planning · 6 min readPowers of Attorney in Texas: The Documents That Prevent Guardianship
Three short documents, signed while you are well, can spare your family a court proceeding.
Read the guide →Estate Planning · 6 min readBeneficiary Designations: The Part of Your Plan Your Will Doesn't Control
Life insurance, retirement accounts and payable-on-death accounts pass by form, not by will. Here is why that matters and when they can be challenged.
Read the guide →Estate Planning · 5 min readHow to Change a Will in Texas
Codicil or new will, what never to do with a pen, and the life events that should send you back to your plan.
Read the guide →Estate Planning · 8 min readRevocable vs. Irrevocable Trusts in Texas
What each kind of trust actually does, what neither does, and the other trusts you may hear about.
Read the guide →Estate Planning · 5 min readWhat Is a Testamentary Trust?
A trust written into your will. Often the simplest way to protect a child's inheritance.
Read the guide →Estate Planning · 6 min readHow to Put Your Texas House in a Living Trust
A trust only works for property you actually move into it. Here is how the house gets there, and what to check afterward.
Read the guide →Estate Planning · 7 min readRevoking or Challenging a Power of Attorney in Texas
How a principal takes authority back, what an agent can and cannot do, and what family members can do when an agent is misusing it.
Read the guide →Estate Planning · 6 min readDigital Assets in Your Texas Estate Plan
Email, photos, online accounts and crypto: who can get to them after you are gone, and how to make sure the right person can.
Read the guide →Elder Law
Texas Medicaid for Nursing Home Care: A Plain-English Guide
Who qualifies, what counts, what doesn't, and the one mistake that costs families the most.
Read the guide →Elder Law · 7 min readWhen a Parent Needs a Nursing Home: The First 30 Days
A hospital discharge planner is on the phone and wants an answer by Friday. Here is what to do, in order.
Read the guide →Elder Law · 7 min readCan Medicaid Take Your House in Texas?
Usually not while you are living. After death is a different question, and the answer depends on how the house passes.
Read the guide →Probate
Muniment of Title vs. Full Probate in Texas
Texas offers a faster, cheaper way to probate a will. Here is when it works and when it doesn't.
Read the guide →Probate · 5 min readThe Texas Small Estate Affidavit: When It Works
For modest estates with no will, Texas offers a shortcut. It has more conditions than people expect.
Read the guide →Probate · 7 min readContesting a Will in Texas: Grounds, Deadlines and Process
Who can challenge a will, on what grounds, how long you have, and what it realistically involves.
Read the guide →Probate · 5 min readHow Long Do You Have to File Probate in Texas?
The four-year rule, what happens if you miss it, and the other clocks that start when someone dies.
Read the guide →Probate · 7 min readAvoiding Probate in Texas, and What Probate Really Costs
Texas probate is less painful than its reputation. Avoiding it is still often worth it. Here are the tools and the trade-offs.
Read the guide →Guides are general information about Texas law, reviewed September 2026. They are not legal advice and do not create an attorney-client relationship.