Texas Estate Planning Attorney | Tarrant County Power of Attorney Lawyer

Providing Peace of Mind

Comprehensive, Personalized, Affordable Estate Planning

Books More than 70 percent of the people who died last year did not have a will, creating millions of difficult decisions and needless family quarrels, and billions of dollars in avoidable inheritance taxes and probate expenses.

Preserving wealth and avoiding taxes is important, but true estate planning is much more. It is about family, relationships, and making a difference. It's about your future legacy and your peace of mind today.

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." — Alan Kay

The Livens Law Firm in Bedford, Texas, offers a comprehensive approach to getting your affairs in order. In drafting the vital legal documents, we consider tax planning, Medicaid planning, veterans benefits, business planning and asset protection strategies. Contact us today for a free initial consultation. We welcome clients of any income level, including caregivers of the elderly, throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area and statewide Texas.

Estate Planning Essentials

A last will and testament directs the disposition of your estate when you die. Without a will, the State of Texas substitutes its own formula for distributing your assets — creating additional cost and uncertainty for survivors. We craft a will that specifies beneficiaries and who gets what, appoints guardians for minor children or adult disabled children, and names a trusted executor to settle your estate.
Powers of attorney give control to an individual — or a successive order of individuals — to manage your personal and financial affairs if you are incapacitated by dementia, illness or injury. We include special provisions so that your appointee can handle all transactions in your name, including Medicaid planning actions such as gifting of assets to heirs. We typically recommend a durable power of attorney that is effective today rather than commencing upon disability — otherwise who decides and defines when you are "disabled?"
A living will, or advance directive, clarifies your desires regarding life support and end-of-life care. This guides physicians and spares your loved ones from agonizing decisions about "pulling the plug." We take a more detailed approach than most law firms, including a provision to continue pain medications to the end. We identify four medical situations and 13 medical procedures. Most firms identify only one situation.

A medical power of attorney designates a person (usually a spouse) and a chain of others to make health care decisions on your behalf regarding surgery, medications or other treatment. A critical but often overlooked detail is the HIPAA release granting all applicable family members access to your medical records and updates of your condition. Our estate planning package is available with an emergency ID card having 24-hour online or phone access to all these documents so that necessary care is not delayed and your wishes are crystal clear to doctors and family.

HIPAA authorization is an important estate planning tool in that it grants applicable family members access to your medical records and updates on your medical condition.

Advanced Estate Planning

Attorney Stephen J. Livens has over 20 years of estate planning experience, and has been a CPA in Texas for 25 years. His practice is devoted exclusively to protecting assets and reducing taxes for clients and their heirs. Mr. Livens and his staff are familiar with sophisticated vehicles and legitimate strategies to accomplish various goals.