This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News on July 14, 2017. Congratulations on your business plan. I cannot speak to the viability or profitability of your new venture, but can give you some guidance about business structure, and insight on how to integrate the new business into your estate plan. Since this business will involve two owners, you could select a traditional corporate format, a traditional Partnership, or a Limited Liability Company as the busine

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express-News and on MySA.com on July 21, 2015. In late 2014 the citizens of Denton voted to ban fracking in the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction. The proponents felt that fracking was a dangerous and polluting practice that does not belong in their community. Many other cities in the nation have passed similar ordinances. The State of Texas immediately sued Denton to overturn the ban, and the legislature took up a bill (

Dear Mr. Premack: My wife died and a while after her death, her best friend and I started living together. We do not want to get married. We are living in her house and renting out my house. What do we do now to protect ourselves and our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren? MG and WN People are living longer and sometimes, as circumstances change, old friendships change into romantic and supportive relationships. Getting old does not mean that romance or the need

Dear Mr. Premack: Last month you wrote two separate columns, one about limiting liability for mineral right holders by using an LLC, and another about ways to manage rent houses if the owner becomes disabled. I want to ask a question that combines those ideas. I have owned several rent houses for years. Lately, I am concerned about what happens if I am disabled and I worry about a tenant or guest suing me for some injury on the premises. How might a trust and LLC apply to my

Original Publication: San Antonio Express News, May 19, 2014 Dear Mr. Premack: Like many others who own land in the Eagle Ford shale area, I now have a mineral lease which is producing income. Also, like many others, my wife and I are concerned about protecting our estates from exposure to liability if something should go wrong. This land has been in my family since my grandfather purchased it. What strategies exist to shelter the land and to shelter our savings from liabilit