The legal right of a non-custodial parent to spend time with his or her children and to now their whereabouts are commonly referred to as “access and visitation” or “possession.” As McKinney family lawyers, we are experienced in helping our clients to understand their parental rights and duties. 

Following a divorce, your circumstances or those of your ex-spouse are likely to change over time, whether financially or personally.  Fortunately, Texas law allows the parties to a divorce to seek modification of the terms of the divorce.  As McKinney divorce attorneys, we are experienced in assisting our clients with post-divorce modification relating to income and financial needs, child custody, as well as enforcement issues.  Here are the basics of post-divorce modification in Texas.

As McKinney estate planning attorneys, we stay up-to-date on developments in estate planning law that impact our clients.  Recent developments include the increase in the federal estate tax exemption from $5 million to $10 million under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and the Texas legislature’s improvement of the law on durable powers of attorney, making it easier for beneficiaries to avoid costly and time consuming guardianship proceedings.  Our Estate Planning Practice is experienced in preparing numerous estate planning tools, including durable powers of attorney, health care directives, trusts, wills, family living partnerships, and giving and asset protection strategies. 

As McKinney family attorneys, we stay up-to-date on developments and trends in family law that impact our clients.  Two significant developments in Texas family law came from the Supreme Court in 2018.  First, the Court applied a broad definition of “actual care and control” over a child,  thereby making it easier for a nonparent, such as a grandparent or step-parent, to sue for custody.  Second, the court reinforced the binding nature of premarital agreements.

When preparing for a divorce, one of the first steps in the process is to familiarize yourself with the terminology involved. During your divorce, you will likely become intimately familiar with a number of terms that you don’t know now. Clearly understanding these terms will be important to making informed decisions; and, while your divorce lawyer can explain everything you need to know, many people find it helpful to familiarize themselves with some of the key terms prior to their initial consultation.

Do you need an estate plan if you are single? What if you are in your 20s or 30s? Is it okay to buy an estate plan online? These are all common questions about estate planning; and, unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there. Here is the truth behind five common myths about estate planning in Texas:

So, you have decided to file for divorce. You are ready for your marriage to be over, you want to put the past behind you, and you are excited for your new life to begin. This checklist will help you get the process started:

Being married offers a number of potential benefits when it comes to preparing an estate plan. From tax benefits to health care decision-making and the ease of transferring certain types of assets outside of probate, married couples will find that many aspects of the estate planning process can be fairly straightforward.

In Texas, if you are ready to get divorced, you have the option to file on either fault-based or no-fault grounds. Cheating is considered a form of “marital fault” in Texas, and Section 6.003 of the Texas Family Code provides that, “[t]he court may grant a divorce in favor of one spouse if the other spouse has committed adultery.”

For many people, a revocable living trust can be an effective tool for addressing a variety of estate planning needs. So, is a revocable living trust right for you?