Potential Legal Implications of the Promissory Note In the context of a trust, a power of appointment is a legally binding provision contained in a trust which gives a surviving spouse or other beneficiary the authority to change or re-direct the trust’s property in a way that may be different from the disposition otherwise provided […]

Revocable Trust Funding A revocable trust must be properly funded by the grantor or settlor during their lifetime, especially if the primary goal of forming the trust is to avoid probate. This article provides a summary of assets that can and cannot be transferred to a revocable trust, as well as a summary of potential […]

Proposed Changes to Estate Tax Recent information regarding the proposed tax changes by the Biden Administration includes a proposal to reduce the federal estate and GST tax exemption from $11,700,000 per individual to the 2009 level of $3,500,000 per individual.  There is even a proposal to reduce the federal gift tax exemption to $1,000,000 per […]

Wire Fraud or “Business Email Compromise” – is the Bank liable? Many businesses and individuals rely on wire transfers for various payments and transactions. A wire transfer is an electronic transfer of funds between parties or, more accurately, between the parties’ banks. These types of transfers are privy to wire fraud, which occurs when a […]

Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT) A qualified personal residence trust (“QPRT”) is one of several tools in our estate planning toolbox at Waldron & Schneider. A QPRT is a type of irrevocable trust. The grantor of the QPRT (“Grantor”) transfers ownership of their principal residence or vacation home to the QPRT and reserves the right […]

Homestead Exemption Application Filing Fee Scam Alert It has been brought to our attention that some homeowners in Galveston County received solicitation letters for a homestead application filing service. There is no filing fee for a homestead exemption application and homeowners can file the application themselves, but homeowners who do not know this may believe […]

Unified Tax Credit – What is the Unified Tax Credit and Why You Should Care Each individual has the right to gift a certain amount of assets during their life or at death to other parties without having to pay gift or estate taxes. This “credit” afforded under federal law is known as the “unified […]

Family Limited Partnership Agreements The partnership entity commonly referred to as a Family Limited Partnership (“FLP”) is simply a limited partnership with a general partner and limited partners usually consisting of family members and/or trusts. The entity is formed for asset protection and estate planning. When clients come to us with an existing partnership agreement […]

College Aged Kids and their Medical Records The holidays are around the corner! If you have children who will be home from college, consider talking to them now about getting a Medical Power of Attorney, Durable Power of Attorney and HIPAA Authorization so that the documents will be ready to execute during their break from […]

Responding to Positive COVID-19 Test Results in the Workplace You’ve taken all available steps to protect your staff and maintain a safe workplace.  But, what do you do if your employee reports to work with COVID-19 symptoms or reports a positive test result?  Based on the current Center for Disease Control Guidelines for Business and […]

Texas favors the Freedom to Contract, so why not use it? Most people think of a “contract” as a written agreement signed by two different parties. But what people don’t realize is that they can enter into contracts simply by exchanging emails with one another. This could leave a party open to having a court […]

New Overtime Rules Effective January 1, 2020 Welcome to 2020! A new decade, a fresh start, and new overtime rules for non-exempt employees. Beginning January 1, 2020, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the minimum salary an employee seeking to qualify for the executive, managerial, professional and outside sales overtime exemption must earn to be […]

End of Year As we near the end of 2019, it is time to hold your annual meeting. Corporate entities are formed, in part, to protect an individual’s assets from the liabilities of the business. To help defend against a creditor trying to “pierce the corporate veil”, the first step is to keep up the […]

Why Do I Need an Employee Handbook? Although no law requires it, employee handbooks should be a staple to every company, whether you have 1 employee or 1,000,000 employees. An employee handbook is the most concise tool available to an employer to not only set forth expectations between the employer and the employee, but make […]

3 Documents Your Child Needs to Appoint an Agent If you have a child, you are likely used to speaking freely with their doctors and managing their finances.  However, when your child turns 18 years old, they are legally an adult, so you will not be able to act in these roles or receive protected […]