Frequently asked questions

Texas Medicaid for nursing facility care pays for room, board, and skilled nursing services at participating facilities for residents who meet HHSC income and asset limits. A single applicant must generally reduce countable assets below $2,000.

A married couple has additional protections for the spouse remaining at home.

Medicare covers short-term skilled nursing care after a qualifying hospital stay, up to 100 days with cost-sharing after day 20. Medicaid covers long-term nursing home care for residents who meet income and asset requirements.

They are separate programs with different eligibility rules.

When a Texas resident applies for Medicaid nursing facility benefits, HHSC reviews the prior 60 months of financial records for asset transfers made below fair market value. Gifts and transfers within that window can create a penalty period during which Medicaid will not pay for care.

To obtain guardianship of an elderly parent in Texas, you file an application in the county where the proposed ward lives, submit a physician's certificate of medical examination, complete a background check, and attend a court hearing. In Harris County, adult guardianship cases are heard in the statutory probate courts.

A Texas guardianship of the person authorizes the guardian to make healthcare, residential, and personal decisions for the ward. A guardianship of the estate authorizes the guardian to manage the ward's financial affairs.

Courts may grant both, or only one, depending on what the ward's circumstances require.

A Texas supported decision-making agreement names a supporter who helps an adult with a disability understand and communicate their own decisions, without taking over decision-making authority. It is a less restrictive alternative to guardianship and does not require court involvement.

Protecting assets from nursing home costs in Texas depends on how much time is available. Families who plan five or more years before care is needed have the broadest set of lawful options.

Families already in a care crisis still have options, but they are narrower because of the Medicaid look-back period.

Yes. Texas participates in the federal Medicaid estate recovery program.

After a Medicaid recipient dies, the state may file a claim against their probate estate to recover the cost of benefits paid. Certain assets, including a home passing to a surviving spouse or a dependent child, are protected from recovery.

An elder law attorney may prepare or update a durable financial power of attorney, medical power of attorney, directive to physicians, Lady Bird deed, revocable or irrevocable trust, and other instruments the client's situation requires. The specific documents depend on the client's care situation, assets, and goals.

Texas probate begins with filing an application in the county where the deceased lived. The court validates the will, appoints and qualifies the executor, and issues letters testamentary.

The executor then notifies creditors, pays debts, and distributes the estate to beneficiaries. Most Texas estates qualify for independent administration, which limits ongoing court involvement.

A straightforward Texas probate administration, from filing to final distribution, typically takes four to twelve months. Simple estates with clear beneficiaries, no significant creditor claims, and cooperative heirs close faster.

Estates with real property, business interests, disputed claims, or litigation take longer.

If you die without a will in Texas, state intestacy law determines who inherits your estate and in what proportions. The court appoints an administrator rather than an executor you chose, and the estate typically requires a dependent administration with more court oversight than an independent administration under a will.

A Texas executor is appointed by the probate court to administer a deceased person's estate. The executor's duties include locating and valuing assets, notifying creditors, paying valid debts and taxes in the correct legal order, filing required court documents, and distributing the remaining estate to beneficiaries according to the will.

A Texas trustee must manage trust assets prudently, act in the best interests of the beneficiaries, keep accurate records, provide accountings when required, file applicable tax returns, and distribute assets according to the trust's terms. The Texas Trust Code sets the fiduciary standard the trustee must meet.

Yes. A Texas probate court can remove an executor who is mismanaging the estate, has a conflict of interest, has failed to perform required duties, or has become legally disqualified.

An interested party, such as a beneficiary or creditor, can file an application for removal in the probate court where the estate is pending.

Yes. Texas offers several tools to transfer assets at death outside of probate: beneficiary designations on financial accounts and life insurance, Lady Bird deeds and transfer-on-death deeds for real property, payable-on-death bank accounts, and revocable living trusts.

Assets that pass through these mechanisms bypass the probate court.

No. A will does not avoid probate.

A will is the document that controls how assets are distributed through the probate process. Assets that are subject to a will must go through the probate court to be transferred to beneficiaries. Only assets that pass outside the will, through beneficiary designations, joint tenancy with right of survivorship, or trust ownership, bypass probate.

A Texas will contest is filed in the probate court where the will is pending. The challenger must have legal standing, typically as an heir or beneficiary, and must raise a recognized legal ground: lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud, or improper execution.

A will contest must generally be filed within two years of the will being admitted to probate.

A breach of fiduciary duty claim arises when a Texas trustee fails to meet the duties owed to beneficiaries under the Texas Trust Code, including the duties of loyalty, prudent management, impartiality, and accounting. Beneficiaries who suffer a loss from a trustee's breach may be entitled to compensation, removal of the trustee, and disgorgement of any i...

A Texas determination of heirship is a probate court proceeding that formally establishes who the legal heirs of a deceased person are when there is no will, or when a will does not address all of the estate's assets. The court's judgment serves as legal authority for transferring property to the identified heirs.

Generational wealth planning is the practice of structuring your assets so they transfer to your children and grandchildren in a tax-efficient, creditor-protected way across multiple generations. Any family with accumulated assets, a closely held business, real estate, or investment accounts they want to preserve past one generation benefits from this pla...

A multi-generational trust holds assets for the benefit of two or more generations of your family, with a trustee making distributions according to the standards you write into the trust document. Under Texas Trust Code Section 112.036, a trust can last up to 300 years, allowing assets to remain sheltered from estate tax and creditor claims across many ge...

A dynasty trust is a long-term trust designed to hold family wealth for multiple generations, often 100 years or more. In Texas, a dynasty trust can last up to 300 years under Texas Trust Code Section 112.036.

Assets held in a properly structured dynasty trust are not subject to estate tax at each generational death, which compounds the tax benefit over time.

Texas provides some of the strongest statutory asset protection in the country: an unlimited homestead exemption, full protection for retirement accounts and qualified annuities, and flexible limited liability structures. These statutory tools protect accumulated wealth from most future creditors without requiring a trust or giving up control.

Inherited assets held in a properly drafted spendthrift trust are protected from the beneficiary's creditors in Texas. Assets that pass outright to an heir and are commingled with the heir's own funds lose that protection and become available to creditors like any other personal asset the heir owns.

The Texas homestead exemption protects your primary residence from most creditors during your lifetime and continues to protect the property for your surviving spouse under certain conditions. For estate planning purposes, the exemption affects how the home is titled, how it passes at death, and whether a trust or deed is the better transfer vehicle.

Common strategies for transferring wealth to grandchildren in Texas include generation-skipping trusts funded with your GST exemption, 529 education accounts with five-year averaging, annual gifts within the federal gift tax exclusion, and irrevocable life insurance trusts. Each carries different tax treatment, control implications, and flexibility.

An irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) holds a life insurance policy outside your taxable estate. When you die, the death benefit paid into the ILIT passes to your beneficiaries free of federal estate tax.

The ILIT owns the policy, not you, so the death benefit is not counted in your gross estate.

Texas community property rules mean that assets acquired during marriage are generally owned equally by both spouses, regardless of whose name is on the account or deed. This affects how those assets pass at death, how they are treated for gift and estate tax purposes, and how a multi-generational trust must be structured to hold them properly.

Business succession planning is the process of deciding who takes over your business when you retire, become incapacitated, or die, and documenting how that transfer happens. Without a plan, the decision defaults to your estate or your co-owners, and the result often does not match what you intended or what is best for the business.

A buy-sell agreement is a contract among business co-owners that specifies what happens to an owner's interest when a triggering event occurs: death, disability, retirement, or a voluntary exit. Without one, a departing owner's interest may pass to an heir who is not equipped or welcome to operate the business alongside the remaining co-owners.

If you become incapacitated without a plan, no one may have legal authority to operate your business, sign contracts, or access business accounts. A durable financial power of attorney that expressly covers your business interest gives a named agent that authority during your incapacity without requiring a court-ordered guardianship.

Most Texas small business owners choose an LLC for its liability protection, flexible governance, and pass-through tax treatment. Corporations work better when the business involves outside investors or broad equity distribution.

Family limited partnerships serve specific estate planning and ownership-transfer goals for family businesses with real estate or investment portfolios.

A Texas series LLC allows a single LLC to maintain multiple segregated "series," each with its own assets, liabilities, and members. For business owners with multiple properties or ventures, a series LLC can provide liability separation between each one without the cost of forming and maintaining separate entities for each.

A business interest acquired or grown during a Texas marriage is generally community property, regardless of whose name appears on the ownership records. Your spouse may hold a community property interest in the business even if they have no operational role and are not listed as an owner.

Estate planning for Texas business owners integrates personal estate plan documents (will, trusts, powers of attorney) with business documents (operating agreement, buy-sell agreement, succession plan) so both layers address the business interest at death or incapacity. A personal estate plan that ignores the business leaves the most valuable asset in the...

Protecting your business in your estate plan means coordinating your personal documents (will, powers of attorney) with your business governance documents (operating agreement, buy-sell agreement) so both address what happens to the business at your death or incapacity. Neither layer works properly without the other.

Texas business owners protect personal assets from business liability primarily through proper entity selection and consistent maintenance of the entity formalities. An LLC or LP shields personal assets from business debts and claims when the entity is properly structured and operated separately from personal finances.

Cross-border estate planning for US-Mexico families involves a US planning layer and a separate Mexico planning layer that must be designed to work together. The US layer covers wills, trusts, and powers of attorney under Texas and federal law.

The Mexico layer covers Mexican succession law, fideicomiso beneficiary designations, and Mexican inheritance procedures, and requires a separately retained Mexican attorney.

When a US citizen who owns Mexican property dies, the disposition of that property is governed by Mexican law, not US law. Property held in a fideicomiso passes according to the beneficiary designation recorded in the trust agreement.

Property held through direct Mexican title follows Mexican inheritance law and typically requires a separate Mexican succession proceeding.

A fideicomiso is a Mexican bank trust that allows foreigners to own property in Mexico's restricted coastal and border zones. The fideicomiso has its own beneficiary designation separate from a US will.

At the owner's death, the fideicomiso property passes to the designated beneficiary according to Mexican law, not through the US estate.

US persons with foreign financial accounts exceeding $10,000 in aggregate at any point in the calendar year must file an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) annually. This reporting obligation exists regardless of whether the accounts appear in your estate plan, and failure to file carries substantial civil and, in some cases, criminal penalties.

FATCA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) requires US persons to report specified foreign financial assets on Form 8938 if they exceed filing thresholds that vary by residence and filing status. FATCA applies to assets held directly and to interests in foreign entities.

It operates alongside, not instead of, the FBAR requirement.

The penalty for a non-willful FBAR violation is up to $10,000 per violation per year. For willful violations, the penalty can reach the greater of $100,000 or 50 percent of the account balance per year, and criminal prosecution is possible.

These penalties can exceed the value of the unreported account.

An expatriate estate plan is designed for US citizens or green card holders living outside the United States. Because US citizens owe US federal estate tax on their worldwide assets regardless of where they live, an expatriate plan must address US estate tax exposure, foreign asset reporting obligations, and how the country of residence's inheritance laws...

A Texas trust can describe Mexican assets within the trust document, but a Texas trust does not have automatic legal effect over Mexican real estate. Mexican property requires Mexican legal mechanisms to transfer at death, and a separately retained Mexican attorney must address that side of the plan.

Dual US-Mexico citizens are subject to US federal estate and income tax on their worldwide assets as US citizens, and also to Mexican inheritance law for Mexican assets as Mexican citizens. An estate plan that accounts for both sides of citizenship prevents conflicts between the two legal systems at death.