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Please read this
page before using the email form below.
The Internet is a big place, and I receive a lot of email from
people seeking free legal advice, or who have a problem that I cannot
solve. If you do not receive a response from me, it may be
because I
could not figure out who you are or whether you are asking for
something that I can do for you. It may also be because you
misspelled
your email address, or your spam filter rejected my email.
My practice includes estate planning, probate, and Medicaid
eligibility. I do simple wills, wills with trusts for minor
children,
and wills containing tax planning for married couples. I do
powers of
attorney, living wills, and beneficiary designations. I do
revocable
trusts, life insurance trusts, Crummey trusts, and other types of
trusts. I probate wills and administer estates without
wills. I
handle guardianships of the estate and guardianships of the person.
Here
is what I don’t do:
• Contested Matters.
I do not handle contested matters. If you are
seeking help with a will contest, or you have a dispute with the
executor in a probate matter, I will not take your case.
• Emergency Estate Planning.
I do not do emergency estate planning.
If you have a deadline approaching and you want to get your will done
before that deadline, I will suggest that you find another
attorney. I
do not believe estate planning should be done under time pressure; that
leads to miscommunications between attorney and client, errors on the
part of the attorney, and hasty decisions by the client. A person
who
is on her deathbed is usually better off spending her time with family
and friends than with me.
• Second Marriages.
I do not prepare estate plans for both spouses if
there are stepchildren in the family. Spouses in a second
marriage
have conflicting interests that can be difficult to resolve in a joint
representation, and I have decided to exclude that type of case from my
practice. However, I
am willing to represent one spouse if the other spouse has a separate
attorney handling his or her estate planning. In such cases, I
charge
$275 per hour, not a flat fee.
• Children of the Medicaid
Applicant. I do not represent the children
of a person who is applying for Medicaid. Other attorneys
sometimes
represent the entire family, but I confine my long term care practice
to representing the person in need of long term care, or that person’s
spouse. If your parent
needs advice with respect to long term care, please have your parent
contact me directly. I charge $275 per hour for all Medicaid-related
matters.
• Cases That Require
Travel. I do not handle cases outside of my
geographic area. My estate planning clients must live close
enough to
easily visit my office at least twice. I will handle probate
matters
for clients who live anywhere, if the deceased lived in Collin, Dallas,
Denton, or Tarrant County. I handle Medicaid applications in
Collin,
Dallas, and Denton Counties.
If you are hiring me to prepare an estate plan, I will require that you
fill out a questionnaire and return it to me before I will set up an
appointment. This makes the planning process more efficient and helps
to keep the cost down.
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Board Certified - Estate
Planning and
Probate Law