Bob Brown Law, P.C.

03/06/2023

04/28/2020

Just want to remind everyone that during this worrisome time that considerable peace of mind comes from having a will, a durable power of attorney, a medical power of attorney and an advanced directive regarding end of life saving treatment decisions. If you or a loved one gets sick, you might not be able to get those or other documents signed.
You might not need a will if you're family is Leave it to
Beaver, but if you're the Brady Bunch with step kids, you need a will for sure.
Powers of attorney are really important when someone has, for example, a breathing tube in their throat, and a signature or a decision is needed, both legally and for medical treatment.
And the advanced directive takes a really hard decision away from your family and allows you to choose ahead of time for your doctors to stop life saving treatment when you've got a terminal or irreversible condition.
There are a number of really good attorneys in our community who know what they're doing and would be happy to help you. The Governor has permitted remote notarization of wills and powers of attorneys, but I don't know if any modification to the two witnesses requirement for a will. But most lawyers around town have access to a large enough conference room to keep you and the witnesses at 6 ft during the signing process.
And while I can't speak for my colleagues, I'm confident many of of us would take initial consultations by telephone or Zoom type meeting apps.
Here is a link to TexasLawHelp.com with a lot of good information about a number of legal topics many of us may face during the pandemic. Be safe. It's too early to try to get back to normal, in my opinion. Listen to the public health docs and scientists.

03/19/2020

During this pandemic we will be working from home unless we have scheduled appointments with clients or closings. We are available by email and cell phone and will get back with you as soon as we can. If you need to leave any documents with us you can leave them in the box labeled 102 next to the front door of our building or you can slide it under our office door. Thanks and everyone please stay safe during this difficult time.

07/25/2019

Do I Need a Will, and Why?

Many friends and clients ask if they need a will and why. The answer is very simple. If you want to be the one who decides who receives your assets after your death, who controls your estate, and if your have children, who raises them, you need a will.
If, on the other hand, you’re ok with letting politicians decide who gets your assets and letting a judge manage your estate and decide who will raise your kids, you don’t need a will.

Texas law says that if you die without a will, your assets are divided under rules
called “intestate succession.”

For example, if you have kids from a prior marriage, intestate succession rules say that your surviving spouse and your kids share your estate, and how big a share each get depends on whether the property is “community property” or “separate property.” And to know which is which you must look at even more rules.

So not only is dying without a will complicated, the rules your family has to follow might not give them the assets you want them to have.

It’s your choice. You control your estate through your will or politicians and judges control your estate.

05/02/2018

NO ONE IS BULLETPROOF!
When we lose a young friend it’s always a shock and a tragedy, even more so than when an older friend dies before his or her time. But even more tragic is when that young person leaves a spouse and/or children. Please don’t think you’re bulletproof, because things like auto accidents and cancer can hit anyone at any age. So here is some grandfatherly advice:
1. Make sure your bank accounts Are either joint accounts with your spouse with right of survivorship or pay on death accounts. That way your spouse or significant other does t have to wait for a court order to have access to needed funds in your accounts.
2. Carry life insurance! Life insurance for a healthy young person is dirt cheap! You can probably get a term policy with a couple of hundred thousand dollars death benefit for a monthly premium of less than the cost of a meal for the family at McDonald’s.
3. Get health insurance! Health insurance usually means better care, and better care means better outcomes, and may even save your life. And your family doesn’t have to go broke trying to keep you alive.
Thanks for reading.

06/02/2016

Folks the power is off at my office and apparently the entire block, so Angela and I went home. We can be reached by email or cell phone.

06/18/2015

We are having a Mansfield Area Chamber Business After Hours next Thursday June 25 from 5:30 to 7:30 in the conference room at my office, 601 Strada Circle Mansfield. Food, drink, music and good fellowship. Hope you can attend.

11/09/2012

Gotta say how proud I am of the young ladies in my office, Angela Rickerman and Libby Belota. Angela has stepped in a closed several error free transactions and has brought in new gusiness, and Libby has learned how to manage closing files and market our firm, and both have got us out in the community, participating in or supporting great events like The Chili cookoff at the Mansfield Arts and Music Festival, Fall Fest, Kenny's Best of Friends and more. These young ladies have been wonderrful. They say that sometimes you add by subtracting.

10/27/2012

Bring your kids and grandkids to the Mansfield Fall Festival for safe fun and candy and stop by our booth for a game of toss the beanbag into the skull.

10/21/2012

The best chili cooking team at the Mansfield Music and Arts Festival and the best chili: Gumby's Gut Burnin' Chili with Cook Glen Belota, assistants and chili and beverage tasters David Pettyjohn, Justin Zimmerman and Bob Brown, booth decorators and marketing divas Angela Rickerman, Libby Belota, and Shelby Rickerman.

04/06/2012

For all of us who are dealing with damage from the storm, a word to the wise. The Watchdog has some good advice about working with construction professionals who want to help us with storm damage .

The Watchdog wants to share happy endings. Ready for a smile? But first, if you know someone whose house was damaged by tornadoes or storms, please share my Watchdog Nation rules with them as they go about hiring a contractor or roofer.

02/09/2012

Wills Chapter 2 - Disadvantages of Dying Without a Will

If a person dies without a will, the law disposes of his or her property. The public policy behind statutes governing the intestate distribution of property is to provide for the orderly distribution of property at death. The law does not play favorites, so the distribution is determined by how closely the heir was related to the decedent, not by the nature or quality of any relationship between the heir and the decedent. Dying without a will may trigger undesired results and unexpected costs and delays.

Undesired Results

Because you usually have an idea of how you want your property to pass to others, undesired results can arise if you die without a will. Dying without a will risks that the property will not be inherited as the you wished.
For example, very often one spouse may prefer to leave everything to the surviving spouse who will provide for and take care of the children, but this may not happen if there is no will. If a person dies without a will survived by a spouse and children, including one or more children who are not also children of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse receives only his or her one-half share of the community property, perhaps including the family home. Further, under these circumstances, the surviving spouse inherits only one-third of any separate personal property and only a life interest in one-third of any separate real property.

If there is any animosity between, for example, the surviving spouse and the your children by a prior marriage (who are now coowners of property), conflicts or disputes may arise. Surely this is not what the you want after you pass away.

Another example of unintended results of dying without a will relates to the treatment of lifetime gifts to heirs. Texas law presumes that a gift to an heir is not an advancement of his or her inheritance. This may present a problem where a parent with two children makes a lifetime gift of a sizeable part (say, one-half) of the estate to one child (perhaps to help the child start a business or purchase a home) with the understanding that the gift is an advancement of his or her inheritance. If that parent then dies without a will and is not survived by a spouse, the remaining one-half of the estate is divided equally among the two children. The child who received the lifetime gift in effect takes three-fourths of the total estate, and the other receives only one-fourth instead of one-half, unless an advancement of the one child's inheritance can be proved in court. If the most special people in your life are not among those who would be your heirs-at-law, they will not share in your estate if you die without a will. If an unmarried person dies without a will, friends and roommates will inherit nothing. Thus, a devoted friend, who perhaps cared for the decedent for years, will not inherit property, no matter how unfair it might seem, unless the friend is provided for in the decedent's will. Also, without a will, property cannot pass to a charitable organization, no matter how committed the decedent was to its purpose.

In Texas, there is no forced heirship. In other words, a parent is not required to leave property to his or her children. However, one cannot disinherit heirs if he or she dies without a will. Under the intestate distribution statutes, property may pass to undesired heirs instead of those the decedent would have chosen.

Costs and Delays
Dying without a will can tie up assets for an undetermined period of time. A court proceeding often is required to determine who are the heirs, although in certain limited circumstances it may be possible to clear title to the assets without an heirship proceeding. An administrator, who may be responsible to the court for settling the estate, may have to be appointed. The administrator may be required to post a bond to insure that the duties are performed properly. The administrator's duties include locating the heirs, inventorying the assets, classifying and paying off debts of and claims against the estate, and distributing the property to the heirs.
Transfer of ownership of some of the assets by legal documents, such as deeds and certificates of title, may be necessary. If the estate cannot be settled amicably, the court will resolve the disputes. Because of congested dockets, court proceedings often are slow. Legal fees and court costs may begin to mount. Depending on how difficult it is to divide the property and whether the heirs agree on the value assigned to it, court proceedings could be so lengthy and costly that the estate is depleted. The bottom line is that dying without a will costs time and money and causes frustration for the family of the decedent.