Family Allowance to Surviving Spouse

Family Allowance to Surviving Spouse

The family allowance is paid from estate funds to the surviving spouse and sometimes to other qualified dependents.  In most estates, the allowance is not a factor because all or most of the estate goes to the surviving spouse.  The spousal allowance usually comes up...
Larry King Estate Battle

Larry King Estate Battle

Larry King died in 2021 at age 87 after a hospitalization for COVID-19. He hosted the “Larry King Live” show on CNN for 25 years.  King interviewed countless people on 6,000+ episodes of the show from 1985 to 2010. King’s will King’s net worth was estimated at $144...
Britney Spears Guardianship

Britney Spears Guardianship

Britney Spears reached the top of the pop music charts in 1998 at age 16. In 2008, a guardianship was set up that controlled her finances and personal life for the next 13 years. The guardianship, called a conservatorship in California, came after Spears experienced a...
Divorce at Death, IRA Impact

Divorce at Death, IRA Impact

A Texas appellate court recently included the surviving spouse’s IRA in the probate inventory and awarded half of it to the heirs of the deceased spouse. At death, the community estate divides 50/50 between the surviving spouse and the deceased spouse’s estate. That...
2021 National Pro Bono Celebration

2021 National Pro Bono Celebration

Please join us today from 10:30 to 11:30 at the Smith County Courthouse Annex as Lone Star Legal Aid and the Smith County Bar Foundation honor these six amazing Smith County Volunteer Attorney Recipients with their well-deserved pro bono awards. Our very own Steve...