Probate and Estate Planning Columns | Paul Premack Express News

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Protecting Assets after a Second Marriage

Reverse Mortgages: Age Limits and High Costs

Paul Premack

Apr 26, 2019

Reverse Mortgages: Age Limits and High Costs

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Hearst Newspapers on February 4, 2019. Reverse mortgages are a special type of home equity loan, which was illegal in Texas until the mid-1990’s. The legislature and voters had to actually amend the Texas Constitution to allow both general equity loans and reverse mortgages. The Texas Constitution does have an age requirement, but your friend had incorrect information. Instead of age 65, reverse mortgages ar

How to protect yourself from a spouse’s debt

Keeping land in the family for generations

Paul Premack

Jan 24, 2019

Keeping land in the family for generations

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Hearst Newspapers on December 28, 2018. Land ownership can be complex, with issues of maintenance, taxes, sharing the use and enjoyment, and ultimately determining who will receive the land when you die. For some, that is a simple decision. But for those who have heirloom land and a desire to pass it on to more than one future generation, the choices can be more complex. If you simply devise the land to your

Estate Planning is for Young Adults, too

Paul Premack

Dec 28, 2018

Estate Planning is for Young Adults, too

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Hearst Newspapers on November 26, 2018. Dear Mr. Premack: I know you work primarily with retirees, but since you write about Wills and Estate Planning I’m hoping you can answer this question. My husband and I have two young children, pets, and a house with a mortgage. We know we need Wills and know that if we both were to die we’d want our assets to go to our kids, but they are just 6 and 8 years old. How to

Paul Premack

Dec 11, 2018

How should Will handle House issue?

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Hearst Newspapers on November 19, 2018. Making a Will allows you, as owner of the home, to dictate various terms that apply to any inheritance. Your current plan to have the house sold by your Executor has the dual advantages of simplicity and equality. When the house is sold, everyone is treated the same. Your concern, however, is that your daughter isn’t really being treated the same. None of the other chi

Is Home Cam which watches elderly Dad legal?

Paul Premack

Nov 29, 2018

Is Home Cam which watches elderly Dad legal?

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Hearst Newspapers on November 5, 2018. Dear Mr. Premack: My father has moved into my home, and despite his very happy demeanor he is bedridden with various health issues. We do have a care provider who comes in several hours a day, so I can get out, buy groceries, etc. My husband set up one of the new Nest indoor security cameras, so I can check on dad using my phone from any location. The new care provider

Substitution of Agent and Delegation of Authority

Paul Premack

Nov 27, 2018

Substitution of Agent and Delegation of Authority

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Hearst Newspapers on October 30, 2018. Dear Mr. Premack: My father signed a Durable Power of Attorney about ten years ago, naming me as his Agent. For a long time, I didn’t need to do anything to help him, but now he is in a nursing home and is confused. I plan to sell his car, but the dealer is refusing to accept the power of attorney as-is. They say they want one of their own employees to be substituted as

Paul Premack

Nov 13, 2018

Questions about MERP claims

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Hearst Newspapers on October 12, 2018. MERP is the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, a facet of the Medicaid program that has existed since 2005. Whenever any person applies for Medicaid benefits (for instance, to help pay for a nursing home) that person is informed, in writing, about MERP and its processes. Eventually, when the Medicaid recipient dies, MERP’s task is to recover for the state whatever it can

Replace, do not Amend, Powers of Attorney

Paul Premack

Nov 9, 2018

Replace, do not Amend, Powers of Attorney

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Hearst Newspapers on October 1, 2018. Dear Mr. Premack: Can a Durable Power of Attorney and a Medical Power of Attorney be amended to change the alternate agent without a new document being issued? – RLD A Durable Power of Attorney is legally intended to delegate to an Agent authority to assist with the Principal’s financial and business matters. A Medical Power of Attorney, likewise, delegates to an Agent a

Forced Legal Partition of Inherited Property

Paul Premack

Nov 9, 2018

Forced Legal Partition of Inherited Property

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Hearst Newspapers on November 9, 2018. Dear Mr. Premack: My parents had four children, they paid for a house, and they both died with Wills leaving their house to the four children. We all agreed among ourselves to keep their house and split the net rental income it produces. We have all gotten along well until recently, when property values have started to go up. My sister transferred her share of the house

Mineral rights have modest Medicaid exemption

Paul Premack

Nov 6, 2018

Mineral rights have modest Medicaid exemption

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Hearst Newspapers on September 25, 2018. In order to qualify for nursing home Medicaid, any Texas resident must be 1) 65 or older, or blind or disabled, 2) demonstrate medical necessity, 3) have proper citizenship or immigration status, 4) have income below Medicaid’s cut-off, and 5) have countable assets below Medicaid’s cut-off. You say you own mineral rights, but do not have any surface rights to the same

Actions Seek to Subjugate your Choices to Dogma

Surprise Survivorship Right can be trouble

Paul Premack

Oct 24, 2018

Surprise Survivorship Right can be trouble

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Texas Hearst Newspapers on September 7, 2018. When a person dies, there are four ways that someone else becomes the owner of their assets. First and most traditional is for the assets to pass to the devisees named in the Will. Typically, the Will needs to be probated, a courtroom process which can be very streamlined under Texas law. Second and all too often seen is for the assets to pass under the laws of i

Issues from ineffective or contradictory estate plan

Paul Premack

Oct 23, 2018

Issues from ineffective or contradictory estate plan

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Texas Hearst Newspapers on August 24, 2018. You have already hired legal counsel (your probate attorney). You should ask these questions of your attorney and rely on the advice your attorney shares with you. I can use your situation as an example for other readers, but since your short letter cannot tell me all the details you have shared with your probate attorney you should rely on that attorney for a spec

IRA should have designated beneficiary for best tax result

Paul Premack

Sep 24, 2018

IRA should have designated beneficiary for best tax result

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Texas Hearst Newspapers on August 17, 2018. An IRA (individual retirement account) is a tax-deferred savings program used by millions of Americans to help fund their retirements. IRAs are great tax and retirement tools, and they need to be integrated into each person’s estate planning. Universally, when an IRA is established and funded, the owner also designates specific individuals to receive the funds in c

Can adult children force sale of the homestead?

Paul Premack

Sep 17, 2018

Can adult children force sale of the homestead?

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Texas Hearst newspapers on August 10, 2018. Dear Mr. Premack: My boyfriend was married, but his wife died 8 years ago. He still lives in the house they had together. She did not have a Will, but she did have three adult children from before they got married. Now her kids want him to sell the house so they can get the money from their mother’s half. My boyfriend has been paying the taxes every year. It is not

Both parents’ deaths leaves family with legal mess

Paul Premack

Sep 13, 2018

Both parents’ deaths leaves family with legal mess

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Texas Hearst newspapers on August 3, 2018. Dear Mr. Premack: Our parents owned several valuable real estate holdings. They both had poorly written wills, but the wills do identify us as the heirs. When mother died in 2014 her will was not probated by our father. Now our father has died. What course of action are we, the children, allowed under Texas law? – ELC Whenever there are valuable assets, from owning

Paul Premack

Sep 11, 2018

Agent’s Fiduciary Duty to Account

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express News and other Hearst Newspapers on July 16, 2018. A Fiduciary must protect the Principal’s interests Dear Mr. Premack: I had power of attorney over a family friend. She died and now the “relatives” have hired a lawyer requesting documents. What am I supposed to do? – J.S. I assume that you are saying you were named as Agent in a Durable Financial Power of Attorney issued by a family friend. By naming you as “Agent”, your

Do Basic Statutory Forms Address Broad Legal Needs?

Paul Premack

Sep 7, 2018

Do Basic Statutory Forms Address Broad Legal Needs?

This column first appeared in the San Antonio Express-News and other Hearst Newspapers on July 2, 2018. DIY tools are not sophisticated enough for important legal issues Dear Mr. Premack: Situation: I have been divorced from Robert for over twenty years. We share an adult son, are very civil to each other, and I even still own a fifty-percent share of the house we had before the divorce. Robert now has dementia and needs to live in a memory care facility. About ten years ago,

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