Kenedy, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Hire a probate lawyer in the county in which your mother lived to file an Application for Determination of Heirship and Issuance of Letters of Administration.  If Florida law treats mineral rights as personal property, that should suffice.  If Florida law treats mineral rights as real property, after the Texas probate there will need to be an ancillary probate in Florida.

Living trusts are excellent devices for older couples that are very organized. In order to make a living trust work, you have to transfer assets regularly into the trust as opposed to personally owned. ?You have to track asset sales (if you sell a car owned by the trust, the proceeds are trust money not personal money. With younger couples, there is a tendency to ignore the technicalities of the trust and treat all assets as personal, then when there is a death the judge has no choice but to declare the trust has no assets and then you don't have a will or a trust. As an aside, there are a number of shady life insurance or investment salespeople who push living trusts very hard like they are the solution to every problem but what happens is the second they get your payment for the life insurance, they disappear and you get no help in implementing and maintaining the trust. A living trust is a way to avoid the costs of probate but the cost of a properly executed living trust - for most families is more than the cost of probate. ?Obviously, a wealthy family (assets in excess of $10 million) has entirely different considerations, particularly a family that controls a successful business. For most couples, wills and a careful review of the non-probate assets - (life insurance, IRAs, 401(k)s, annuities, inheritances, pensions and various other assets ARE NOT CONTROLLED BY THE WILL - this is a particular problem where the couple isn't married) are the best option.

Please take whatever documents you have to a probate lawyer (preferrably one who does fiduciary litigtion) who practices in the county in which the people died.  Please also note that the Texas Estates Code now permits an heir or beneficiary or someone who can convince the Court that they are interested in someone's well-being to ask the Court to look into the actions of an agent under a Durable Power of Attorney.