Heirloom Legal

Heirloom Legal ESTATE PLANNING AND PROBATE ATTORNEY
Alisa M.

Hoggatt has over a decade of focused experience representing clients in probate, estate planning and business planning matters.

06/16/2026

If you have an IRA and haven't looked at your beneficiary designations since 2020, stop and do that.

The SECURE Act changed the rules. Beneficiaries used to be able to stretch distributions over their lifetime. That's no longer allowed for most people.

Now, unless it's a surviving spouse, beneficiaries have 10 years to empty the account. That can create a serious tax hit depending on the timing.

An estate planning attorney can help you make sure your retirement accounts still make sense under the new rules.

06/11/2026

Death can wait. Your estate plan cannot.

Make sure you call us before the Grim Reaper calls you. 🫰

06/09/2026

There is a legal way to transfer assets to your family at a 20 to 40 percent discount.

It involves a Family Limited Partnership. When assets are placed into one, they qualify for valuation discounts because the recipients don't have full control or easy access to sell.

That discount reduces your taxable estate. Significantly.

This is an advanced technique. Done right, it's a powerful tool. Done wrong, it's a mess.

Talk to an estate planning attorney before you try it.

06/04/2026

If your biggest worry is leaving money to your kids, only to have it end up with their spouse someday, there is a solution for that.

A lifetime trust lets you provide for your child for their entire life while keeping your assets in your bloodline.

When they're gone, what's left passes to their children. Not to an in-law.

It's a simple structure. And it works.

06/02/2026

Your CPA might mean well, but this mistake costs families thousands.

Gifting real estate, stocks, or bonds while you're still alive means your kids get your original cost basis. That's the price you paid, not what it's worth today.

When they eventually sell, they owe capital gains on all that growth.

But if they inherit those same assets after you're gone? They get a step-up in basis at current market value. Most of that tax disappears.

Talk to an estate planning attorney before you start giving things away. One conversation could save your family a lot of money.

05/28/2026

Putting your Texas home in a trust? Make sure it's done right.

If your trust doesn't include specific qualifying language, you could lose your homestead exemption. For homeowners over 65, the stakes are even higher.

The good news: it's fixable. But it has to be caught before it becomes a problem.

We help Texas families protect these benefits the right way.

05/26/2026

One clip. Should take 30 seconds. Five takes later, she still doesn't know it yet. 😂

We feel very seen by this video. Estate planning is serious. Getting there is a whole thing.

05/21/2026

If the Grim Reaper showed up at your door right now, would you have a will ready?

Yeah, we did not think so.

Heirloom Legal makes the whole process a lot less scary than that visit you are not ready for.

05/19/2026

Here's a scenario that happens more often than you'd think.

A business owner spends 30 years building a company worth $4 million. He has a business partner. He has a family. But he never put a succession plan in place.

Then he dies unexpectedly.

His widow, who had nothing to do with the business, now finds herself co-owners with a complete stranger. No plan. No clear exit. No protection.

The fix is simpler than most people think: a buy-sell agreement. It's a legally binding document that determines what happens to an owner's share of the business if they die, become disabled, or decide to exit. It protects your family, your partner, and the business you built.

Don't leave the people you love in an impossible situation. Get the plan in place before you need it.

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1120 NASA Parkway, Suite 107
Houston, TX
77058

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