Texas
Estate Planning Attorney
Create a personalized Texas estate plan with wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and medical directives designed to protect your family, prepare for incapacity, and direct how your property will be managed and distributed.
Rania Combs Law provides flat-fee estate planning for individuals and families throughout Texas. Each plan is tailored to your relationships, assets, responsibilities, and long-term goals rather than built from a standard document package.
- Licensed in Texas
- 30+ Years Experience
- Flat-Fee Estate Planning
Estate Planning Basics
What Is Estate Planning in Texas?
Estate planning is the process of coordinating legal documents, property ownership, beneficiary designations, and decision-making authority so that your wishes can be followed during your lifetime and after your death.
Everyone has an estate. It might include a home, bank accounts, retirement benefits, life insurance, business interests, personal belongings, digital assets, or anything else you own. A complete Texas estate plan allows you to identify who will receive your property, administer your estate, handle financial or healthcare matters if you become incapacitated, care for minor children, and manage an inheritance for a beneficiary.
Without a complete and coordinated plan, your loved ones may need court approval if you become incapacitated before they can step in to handle things on your behalf, and Texas law will determine who inherits your probate property, not you. The result may not reflect your wishes, particularly if you have minor children, a blended family, an unmarried partner, a beneficiary with disabilities, a business, or property in more than one state.
A coordinated plan provides clear instructions and reduces the risk that your legal documents, beneficiary designations, property ownership, and transfer arrangements will produce conflicting results.
Estate Planning Documents
What Documents May Be Included in a Texas Estate Plan?
A Texas estate plan may combine documents that direct how property will pass, authorize trusted people to handle financial and healthcare matters, and address the management of particular assets. The appropriate combination depends on your family, property ownership, chosen decision-makers, and planning goals. Not every client needs every document described below.
Last Will and Testament
A Texas will identifies who will inherit your probate assets, who will care for minor children, and who will serve as Executor. It can also can create trusts to manage an inheritance for beneficiaries. Wills are the foundation of most estate plans. Probate is the process of validating a Will.
Revocable Living Trust
A revocable living trust can hold and manage property during your lifetime and provide instructions in the event of incapacity and after death. Property properly transferred to the trust can generally be administered under its terms without passing through probate.
Durable Power of Attorney
A Texas statutory durable power of attorney authorizes someone you trust to handle handle financial matters if you can not. Without one, your family may need to seek a court-supervised guardianship to be able to handle financial matters on your behalf.
Healthcare Planning Documents
A Texas medical power of attorney appoints an agent to make healthcare decisions when you cannot make those decisions yourself. A directive to physicians records your instructions concerning life-sustaining treatment in specified circumstances, while a HIPAA authorization allows designated people to receive protected health information.
Transfer on Death Deed
A properly signed, acknowledged, and recorded Texas transfer on death deed transfers an owner's interest in Texas real property to named beneficiaries at death, while allowing the owner to retain full control of the property, sell or mortgage it, and revoke the deed at any time during their lifetime.
Specialized Planning Documents
Depending on your individual circumstances, additional planning may also include a declaration of guardian in case of future incapacity, a special needs trust for a beneficiary with disabilities, or business succession documents addressing ownership, management authority, and the continued operation or sale of a business.
Choosing a Planning Structure
Will or Revocable Living Trust: Which Is Right for Your Texas Estate Plan?
Many Texans begin the estate planning process by asking whether they need a will, a revocable living trust, or both. The appropriate structure depends on how your property is owned, whether avoiding probate for particular assets is a priority, whether continuity during incapacity is important, whether you own real estate outside Texas, and how inherited property should be managed for your beneficiaries.
A will allows you to name beneficiaries, choose an executor, nominate guardians for minor children, and create trusts for beneficiaries. A will does not avoid probate because probate is the process or validating a will and giving the executor authority to act on behalf of the estate. A will-based plan may be appropriate if your estate is relatively straightforward and probate avoidance is not a primary objective.
A revocable living trust can provide continuity in property management during incapacity and instructions for administering trust property after death. Assets properly transferred to the trust can generally be administered under its terms without passing through probate. Creating the trust alone is not enough; property must be transferred to it or otherwise coordinated with the estate plan.
This is not always an either-or decision. Many trust-based plans also include a pour-over will to address probate property that was not transferred to the trust during the owner’s lifetime and to perform functions that the trust does not replace. Rania explains the practical differences, funding responsibilities, ongoing administration, costs, and limitations of each approach so you can choose between a will-based and trust-based structure with a clear understanding of how each would work in practice.
Estate Planning Goals
What Can a Texas Estate Plan Accomplish?
Name Your Beneficiaries
Your plan can identify the people, organizations, or charities that should receive your property instead of relying solely on the default distribution rules established by Texas law.
Choose Who Will Act for You
You can select an executor, trustee, financial agent, medical agent, and other trusted decision-makers rather than leaving important roles uncertain or requiring a court to resolve them.
Protect Vulnerable Beneficiaries
An estate plan can nominate guardians for minor children and establish trusts for minor children, a beneficiaries with disabilities, or another person who should not receive property outright.
Prepare for Incapacity
Powers of attorney, medical directives, and trust provisions can authorize trusted people to handle financial matters, obtain medical information, and make healthcare decisions if you become unable to act independently.
Coordinate Nonprobate Assets
Beneficiary and payable-on-death designations on life insurance policies, retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, and transfer-on-death deeds can be coordinated with your will or trust so each asset passes as intended.
Address Texas Property Rules
An effective plan considers community property, separate property, homestead rights, and how marital property is characterized and divided, rather than treating every asset the same way.
Personalized Planning
When Does a Texas Estate Plan Require Special Planning?
The documents used in an estate plan may be similar, but the decisions they must address can vary significantly. Family relationships, property ownership, business interests, and the needs of particular beneficiaries often require additional coordination.
An effective plan considers community property, separate property, homestead rights, and how marital property is characterized and divided, rather than treating every asset the same way.
Family and Relationship Considerations
Parents of minor children can nominate preferred guardians, choose a trustee to manage inherited property, establish how trust funds may be used for their children’s health, education, and support , and determine when the child should receive direct control of the inheritance. The guardian responsible for the child’s care and the trustee responsible for the child’s property do not have to be the same person.
Blended families may need to provide for a surviving spouse while preserving an inheritance for children from a prior relationship. Wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, and property ownership should be coordinated with the community or separate character of each asset.
Unmarried partners and individuals without a spouse need to make especially deliberate choices. Texas law doesn’t grant a person who isn’t your legal spouse inheritance rights or decision-making authority, so you should expressly name your beneficiaries, financial agents, medical agents, executors, and trustees
Property and Business Considerations
Homeowners should determine how Texas real estate will pass and whether a will, revocable living trust, transfer on death deed, survivorship arrangement, or another transfer method is appropriate. Property located outside Texas may require additional planning under the law of the state where the property is located.
Business owners should coordinate their estate plan with governing documents, ownership agreements, and any buy-sell arrangements. The plan should address who may exercise authority during incapacity, what happens to the ownership interest at death, and whether the business should continue, be transferred, or be sold.
Beneficiaries Requiring Ongoing Support
Additional planning may be appropriate when a beneficiary is a minor, has disabilities, is financially inexperienced, or should not receive an inheritance outright. A trust can establish who will manage the property, how it may be used, and when distributions may be made.
For a beneficiary with disabilities, a properly structured special needs trust and coordinated beneficiary designations may provide supplemental support while helping preserve eligibility for certain means-tested public benefits. The appropriate structure depends on the beneficiary’s circumstances and the source of the property funding the trust.
Working With Rania
How the Texas Estate Planning Process Works
From the introductory consultation through final execution, each step is designed to help you understand the recommended plan, review the documents carefully, and complete the actions required to put the plan in place.
SCHEDULE AN INTRODUCTORY CONSULTATION
We start with a free introductory conference by telephone or video. I'll learn about your family, your goals, and what you want your last will and testament to accomplish.
RECEIVE A PLAN AND
FLAT-FEE QUOTE
Based on our conversation, I'll recommend the right planning structure and documents for your circumstances and provide a flat-fee quote before work begins. No surprises.
REVIEW AND REFINE
YOUR DOCUMENTS
I prepare your estate planning documents and share them through a secure client portal. You'll have time to review all the documents, and ask questions about your plan.
SIGN, FINALIZE,
AND COORDINATE
I'll walk you through the signing requirements with step-by-step instructions so your documents are properly executed and non-probate assets are coordinated with your estate plan.
Client reviews
What Clients Say About Working With Rania
Clients describe Rania as thorough, professional, knowledgeable, and patient, whether they need revisions to an existing will or a complex estate plan involving multiple trusts and beneficiaries.
Common Questions
Texas Estate Planning FAQ
Do I need an estate plan if I am young and healthy?
Do I need a will, a revocable living trust, or both?
Does a will avoid probate in Texas?
What happens if I die without a will in Texas?
Does my spouse automatically inherit everything in Texas?
Can I name a guardian for my children in a Texas will?
What is the difference between a statutory durable power of attorney and a medical power of attorney?
Do beneficiary designations override a will?
Does a revocable living trust protect my assets from creditors?
How much does Texas estate planning cost?
Can I work with a Texas estate planning attorney online?
When should I review my Texas estate plan?
Texas Estate Planning Consultation
Start Your Texas Estate Plan
Schedule a free introductory consultation with Rania Combs Law to discuss your family circumstances, property, chosen decision-makers, and planning priorities. You will receive a personalized planning recommendation and a written flat-fee quote before deciding whether to proceed.
