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Medicaid Planning is the process of using existing laws and financial tools available to achieve Medicaid eligibility.

Many individuals seem to have the mistaken belief that the terms “will” and “trust” are interchangeable. This belief can lead to significant costs that one assumed he was avoiding by executing estate documents. Below, I have listed a few differences that set wills and trusts apart.      A will must be probated, but a trust does not. If you have a will without a living trust, then all of the assets named in the document must go through probate - a process that could potentially cost your

I recently had a client ask me if I could create a trust that would allow him unlimited access and control of his assets while providing protection from potential creditors and money-hungry claimants. Unfortunately, Texas does not have a domestic asset protection law. In fact, it is against public policy for a settlor to create a trust for his own benefit to insulate himself from creditors.Although a trust was not a viable option to meet this client’s needs, we were able to provide him with a

It is quite common for individuals to put creation of their estate plan on the back-burner. Why? Maybe because their passing isn't something they want to think about. Or maybe they just don't see the urgency of the matter. The problem with procrastination in this area is that it can have a significantly negative-impact on your beneficiaries upon your passing. There are many reasons why it is important you secure an estate plan immediately. I have listed the top 10 reasons below: To ensure that

"Make these decisions so your family doesn't have to."Estate planning is not just for the ultra-wealthy. Everyone over the age of 18 should have an estate plan in place. A complete estate plan includes more than a will to determine who gets what if you pass away; it should include durable and statutory power of attorneys, as well as health care directives. These allow you to make important decisions about who you want to in charge if something were to happen and you were

As we all know – part of working is paying taxes. Part of these taxes go toward Social Security. The Social Security Act is a long and complex animal. For the purpose of this post we need to know the basics: you social security taxes are for retirement and disability (disability discussion is for another day on another blog).

This is an article written by Matthew Redding, Sr. of Metroplex wealth. The link to this article is: http://blog.annuity123.com/concept-family-office/. Recently, I had a potential client that was frustrated with their financial situation. They had a financial advisor for their stock and bond investments, a CPA doing their bookkeeping for their business, an attorney handling their estate planning, wills and trusts, and an insurance agent doing their life insurance.In large part, their frustration

I follow the State Bar of Texas (SBOT) on twitter. One day, after lunch, on my way back to the office I saw a tweet asking lawyers to tweet their vacation pictures with the hashtag #lawyervacay. I had recently returned from a trip to Hawaii and had the perfect photo in mind. I tweeted the photo and instantly the SBOT like and then retweeted it. Then a few more likes and few more retweets. Within and hour over 500 people had seen that photo. A few weeks passed and I forgot about the photo – I had literally been swamped with work. Then I received a tweet from the SBOT, and my photo was chosen as one of the five staff favorites. That tweet included the hashtag #worklifebalance. It wasn’t until then that I realized the importance of this exercise: work-life balance.

Startups can use attorneys to advise on business formation, tax implications, M&A, help negotiate funding, and handle employment issues. Today I will discuss business formation – specifically the Limited Liability Company (LLC).The most popular and flexible business entity is the LLC. LLCs are so popular because they offer a wide array of benefits: easy of formation; limited liability for business debts; and  -most importantly- pass through taxation. Why file 2 tax returns if you don’t have to.

In the past, equity crowdfunding, where you sell a piece(s) of your business in exchange for cash, has only been available to accredited investors, or those investors who meet sufficient levels of wealth. As of Monday, May 16, everyone is now able to participate in equity crowdfunding. As long as an individual has the cash and the interest, he or she can now be a startup investor. That opens up a whole new pipeline of capital for startups, and opens up a new world of possible missteps for