DAVIS & WILLMS, PLLC

3/12/2018: Arielle Prangner was selected to the 2018 Texas Rising Stars list, as published by Texas Monthly and Super Lawyers Magazine.

3/2/2018: Melissa Willms presented "Knowing the Ropes and Binding the IRS: Income and Transfer Tax Issues of Settlements and Modifications Every Fiduciary Should Know" at the 10th Annual Texas Texas Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal CLE & Expo in Lubbock.

2/1/2018: Melissa Willms presented "Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates" at The Center for American and International Law's 53rd Annual Short Course on Estate Planning in Dallas.

11/17/2017: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms co-presented "Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates: Ten Things Estate Planners Need to Know" at the 54th Annual NAEPC Advanced Estate Planning Strategies Conference in New Orleans.

11/1/2017: Davis & Willms, PLLC receives Tier 1 ranking in Houston in Trusts & Estates Law from The Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News - Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" for 2018.

10/13/2017: Melissa Willms presented "Knowing the Ropes and Binding the IRS: Income and Transfer Tax Issues of Settlements and Modifications Every Fiduciary Should Know" at the 39th Annual Duke University Estate Planning Conference in Durham, North Carolina.

9/7/2017: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms were selected to the 2017 Texas Super Lawyers list, as published by Texas Monthly and Super Lawyers Magazine.

8/15/2017: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms were selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2018 in the practice area of Trusts and Estates.

7/28/2017: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms co-presented "What Estate Planners Absolutely Have to Know about Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates" at the 44th Annual Midwest/MidSouth Estate Planning Institute in Louisville, Kentucky.

7/10/2017:  At the Real Property, Trust and Estate's Section of the ABA Skills Training for Estate Planners program in New York, Melissa Willms presented "Income Tax Basics for Estate Planners" and Mickey Davis presented "Fiduciary Income Taxation and Subchapter J."

6/7-9/2017: All of Davis & Willms attorneys participated in the State Bar of Texas's 41stAnnual Advanced Estate Planning & Probate course in Houston.  At the course, Mickey Davis presented "Yes, I'll Take that Trust 'Fully Loaded'," Melissa Willms co-presented "Estate Planning in Light of the New Administration: What Do We Tell Our Clients Now?" with Steve Akers and Al Golden, and Arielle Pranger co-presented "Mediating Contested Probate and Trust Disputes" with Judge Rory Olsen and Sam Graham.

04/23/2017: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms took part in the panel presentation "It's 1:45 P.M. in the Garden of Good and Evil: Now How Do We Deal with Value in Estate and Business Planning and Estate and Trust Administration?" at the 23rd Annual Advanced Estate Planning Strategies Course in Savannah.

4/19/2017: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms co-presented "Planning For Married Clients: Charting a Path with Portability and the Marital Deduction" and "All About That Basis: How Income Taxes Have Reshaped Estate Planning" at the ALI CLE Planning Techniques for Large Estates course in Scottsdale.

3/8/2017: Arielle Prangner was selected to the 2017 Texas Rising Stars list, as published by Texas Monthly and Super Lawyers Magazine.

2/13/2017: Mickey Davis presented "All About That Basis: How Income Taxes Have Reshaped Estate Planning" to the Estate Planning Council of Saint Louis.

1/26/2017: We have a new addition to our family!  Arielle Prangner had her first child, Linus Stone Prangner, a healthy baby boy.  Congratulations to her and Nick (and Linus too - he's one fortunate kid!)!! 

1/17/2017: Today marks the first day of the 30th year Mickey Davis is teaching as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center.  His course is "Income Taxation of Trusts & Estates."

1/12/2017: Melissa Willms presented "Knowing the Ropes and Binding the IRS When Fiduciaries are Involved in Settlements and Modifications: Income and Transfer Tax Issues Every Fiduciary Should Know" as a morning session at the 51st Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando.  That afternoon at the Institute, she co-presented "Distilling the Essence of Subchapter J: Income Tax Essentials for Estate Planners" with George Cushing and John Goldsbury.

1/11/2017: Mickey Davis co-presented "Yes, I'll Order that Trust Fully Loaded!" with Steve Trytten, Jonathan Blattmachr, and Steve Gorin at the 51st Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando.

1/3/2017: Davis & Willms starts off the new year with a new hire.  Welcome to our paralegal Gabrielle Patout!

12/22/2016: It's here!  After many tireless hours and hard work, Mickey's new book "Davis's Texas Estate Planning Forms" has arrived.  Published by O'Connor's, we received our copy today.  We are so, so proud of him!

12/6/2016: For the ABA's Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Mickey Davis co-presented the webinar titled "Planning for the Married Couple in an Era of Portability, Mobility, and Liability" with Turney Berry and Dick Covey.

11/15/2016: Mickey Davis presented "All About that Basis: How Income Taxes Have Reshaped Estate Planning" at the Philadelphia Estate Planning Council monthly lunch meeting in Philadelphia.

11/1/2016: Davis & Willms, PLLC receives Tier 1 ranking in Houston in Trusts & Estates Law from The Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News - Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" for 2017.

10/28/2016: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms co-presented "Planning for Married Clients: Charting a Path with Portability and the Marital Deduction" and "All About that Basis: How Income Taxes Have Reshaped Estate Planning" at the 42nd Annual Notre Dame Tax ansd Estate Planning Institute in South Bend, Indiana.

10/6/2016: Arielle Prangner presented "Lighting the Way to the Exit: Drafting to Facilitate Terminating Distributions by Fiduciaries" at the State Bar of Texas 27th Annual Estate Planning & Probate Drafting Course in Dallas.

9/21/2016: Melissa Willms presented "Practical Inter Vivos and Testamentary Estate Planning: Helping Our Clients Plan in a High Exemption World" at the 51st Annual Southern Federal Tax Institute in Atlanta.

9/16/2016: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms were the speakers at the Dallas Jewish Community Foundation's 21st Annual Professional Advisors Seminar, where they presented "Maneuvering Among the Mazes & Minefields of Modern Estate Planning: Helping Our Clients Plan in a High Exemption World." 

9/8/2016: Mickey Davis, Ron Aucutt, and Stephanie Loomis-Price presented the ACTEC ALI CLE webcast and telephone seminar entitled "Proposed IRS Regulations Under Section 2704 Affecting the Transfer Tax Value of Interests in Family-Owned Entities."

9/8/2016: Happy 100th Birthday Estate Tax!

9/6/2016: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms were selected to the 2016 Texas Super Lawyers list, as published by Texas Monthly and Super Lawyers Magazine.

8/15/2016: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms were selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2017 in the practice area of Trusts and Estates.

7/18/2016:  At the Real Property, Trust and Estate's Section of the ABA Skills Training for Estate Planners program in New York, Melissa Willms presented "Income Tax Basics for Estate Planners" and Mickey Davis presented "Fiduciary Income Taxation and Subchapter J."

6/22-24/2016: Melissa Willms served as the course director of the State Bar of Texas's 40th Annual Advanced Estate Planning & Probate course in San Antonio.  At the course, Mickey Davis presented "Tax Issues in Fiduciary Litigation."

6/21/2016: Melissa Willms took part in the ACTEC ALI CLE webcast and telephone seminar entitled "Complying with the New Consistent Basis and Value Reporting Rules: A Guide for the Perplexed."

6/15/2016: Melissa Willms was part of the panel presentation "Bootcamp on Fiduciary Income Tax" at the ACTEC summer meeting in Boston.

5/31/2016: At the Houston Bar Association's Probate, Trusts and Estates Section meeting, Arielle Prangner presented "Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out: Funding Agreements, Receipts and Releases, and All that Jazz."

5/31/2016: Davis & Willms welcomed our summer law clerk Andre Hays, who just finished his second year at The University of Texas School of Law in Austin.

5/20/2016: Arielle Prangner presented "Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out: Funding Agreements, Receipts and Releases, and All that Jazz" at the Austin Bar Association's Estate and Probate Section meeting.

4/28-29/2016: Mickey Davis moderated and took part in the panel presentation "Ground Control to Major Tom: Clients Giving Up Control, Retaining Control, and Avoiding Being Improperly Controlled" at the State Bar of Texas 22nd Annual Advanced Estate Planning Strategies Course in Santa Fe.

4/27/2016: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms co-presented "Planning For Married Clients: Charting a Path with Portability and the Marital Deduction" and "All About That Basis: How Income Taxes Have Reshaped Estate Planning" at the ALI CLE Planning Techniques for Large Estates course in Scottsdale.

4/5/2016: Melissa Willms was awarded the Standing Ovation Award for 2015 by the TexasBarCLE staff.

2/18/2016: Mickey Davis presented "If I Obergefell in Love with You: Same-Sex Marriage and its Impact on Estate Planning in Texas" to the Houston Business and Estate Planning Council.

2/11/2016: Melissa Willms served as co-course director of the State Bar of Texas Tax Section's Tax Law in a Day course held in Houston. 

2/4/2016: Melissa Willms presented "Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates" at The Center for American and International Law's 52nd Annual Short Course on Estate Planning.

1/21/2016: Arielle Prangner was appointed to the Probate Forms Task Force by the Texas Supreme Court.

1/19/2016: Mickey Davis began a new semester teaching Post-Mortem Estate Planning at the University of Houston Law Center, his 29th year as an adjunct professor at the law school.

1/13/2016: Melissa Willms co-presented "When $25 Million is Middle Class, How Should We Plan for the Middle Class Married Couple?" with Turney Berry and Richard Covey at the 50th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning.

12/4/2015:  Melissa Willms co-presented "Asset Protection Trusts in Texas? Really?" with Amy Jetel at The University of Texas School of Law's 63rd Annual Tax Conference - Estate Planning Workshop.

12/1/2015: Arielle Prangner presented "Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out: Funding Agreements, Receipts and Releases, and All that Jazz" at the State Bar of Texas 26th Annual Estate Planning & Probate Drafting Course in Houston.

11/2/2015: Davis & Willms, PLLC receives Tier 1 ranking in Houston in Trusts & Estates Law from The Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News - Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" for 2016.

10/30/2015: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms presented "Tax Issues in Fiduciary Litigation" at the Federal Tax Institute of New England.

9/8/2015:Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms were selected to the 2015 Texas Super Lawyers list.

8/17/2015: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms were selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America^© 2016 in the practice area of Trusts and Estates.

7/13/2015:  At the Skills Training for Estate Planners program in New York, an annual program sponsored by the Real Property, Trust and Estate's Section of the ABA, Melissa Willms presented "Income Tax Basics for Estate Planners" and Mickey Davis presented "Fiduciary Income Taxation and Subchapter J."

6/11/2015: Melissa Willms was appointed Chair of the Decedents' Estates committee of the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.  The committee is responsible for reviewing and proposing legislation that affects probate law in Texas.

5/12/2015: Melissa Willms co-presented the ACTEC/ALI-CLE webinar and audiocast "How to Treat Capital Gains as Income: Essential Updates for Estate Planners" with Greg Gadarian of Tucson and T. Randolph Harris of New York.

4/9-4/10/2015: Mickey Davis took part in the panel presentation "Irrevocable and Nonamendable: Post Death Modifications, Reformations and Restructuring, Addressing Litigation and Tax Components" at the State Bar of Texas 21st Annual Advanced Estate Planning Straties Course in Santa Fe.

3/26/2015: Melissa Willms presented "Decanting Trusts: Irrevocable, Not Unchangeable" at the March meeting of the Corpus Christi Estate Planning Council.

3/8/2015: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms attended the ACTEC Annual Meeting in Marco Island, Florida this past week.  Mickey co-presented with David Baker on "Tax Aspects of Estate and Trust Litigation."

1/22/2015: Melissa Willms presented "Between Death and Probate: Selected End-of-Life Issues" at the January meeting of the Disability and Elder Law Attorneys Association in Houston.

1/14/2015: Melissa Willms co-presented "Planning with SCINs and Private Annuities - Seizing Opportunities While Navigating Complications" with Steve Akers and Todd Angkatavanich at the 49th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning.

1/7/2015: Melissa Willms presented "Death and Probate: Selected End-of-Life Issues" at the January meeting of the East Texas Estate Planning Council in Tyler.

12/5/2014: Mickey Davis presented "Planning for New Basis at Death" at The University of Texas School of Law's 62nd Annual Tax Conference - Estate Planning Workshop.

11/3/2014: Law firm of Davis & Willms, PLLC receives Tier 1 ranking in Houston in Trusts & Estates Law from The Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News - Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" for 2015.

10/20/2014: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms will co-present "Evaluating Portability, Potential Problems and the Post-ATRA Planning Paradigm" at the 40th Annual Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute on November 14, 2014.

10/18/2014: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms co-presented with Ron Aucutt at the ACTEC 2014 Fall Meeting in New Orleans.  Their topic was "Directed Trusts and the Slicing and Dicing of the Trustee's Duties."

9/18/2014: Arielle Prangner presented "Nuts and Bolts: Planning for the Transfer of Non-Probate Assets at Death" at the 29th Annual South Texas College of Law's Wills and Probate Institute.

8/18/2014: Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms were selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America^© 2015 in the practice area of Trusts and Estates.

8/2/2014: Estate Planning Studies published "Decanting is Not Just for Sommeliers," co-written by Professor Gerry Beyer and Melissa Willms.

7/21/2014:  Mickey Davis will present "Funding Unfunded Testamentary Trusts" at the Texas Society of CPAs' Advanced Estate Planning Conference in San Antonio on August 28, 2014.

6/17/2014: Arielle Prangner was selected by the State Bar of Texas to take part in a Q&A profile.  To read Arielle's profile as featured on the Texas Bar Blog and to learn new things about her, click here!

6/16/2014: At the 16th Annual Estate Planning, Guardianship and Elder Law Course in Galveston on August 7-8, Arielle Prangner will present "Nuts and Bolts: Planning for the Transfer of Non-Probate Assets at Death" and Melissa Willms will present "Between Death and Probate: Selected End-of-Life Issues."

6/11/2014: Melissa Willms was elected to serve a four-year term on the Council of the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, the governing body of the largest section of the State Bar.  She has served as a member of the Decedents' Estates committee of the Section since 2011.

6/10-6/11/2014: At the State Bar of Texas 38th Annual Advanced Estate Planning & Probate Course in San Antonio, Melissa Willms will co-present "The New Role of the Fiduciary and Who Represents Them" and Mickey Davis will present "Basis Adjustment Planning."

3/1/2014:  Melissa Willms will serve as the course director of the State Bar of Texas 25th Annual Estate Planning & Drafting Course to be held in Dallas on October 9-10, 2014.

2/26/2014: Melissa Willms's article "Decanting Trusts:  Irrevocable, Not Unchangeable" was published in the Estate Planning & Community Property Law Journal.

1/13/2014: Mickey Davis will present at the weeklong 48th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando on January 14 and January 15, 2014.

12/27/2013: Melissa Willms's article "What Happens After Death?" was published in the Nov./Dec. 2013 issue of The Houston Lawyer.

11/1/2013: Law firm of Davis & Willms, PLLC receives Tier 1 ranking in Houston in Trusts & Estates Law from The Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News - Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" for 2014.

10/27/2013: Recognizing her contributions to the practice of trust and estate law, Melissa Willms has been elected as a Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).  Election to ACTEC is one the highest achievements and honors for a trust and estate attorney.  ACTEC is a national organization of approximately 2,600 lawyers elected to membership by demonstrating the highest level of integrity, commitment to the profession, competence and experience as trust and estate counselors.  With Melissa's election, both partners of Davis & Willms, PLLC are ACTEC Fellows!

8/15/2013:  Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms named two of the Best Lawyers in America - Trust & Estates in the 2014 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

7/26/2013:  Mickey Davis quoted on cnbc.com regarding actor James Gandolfino's estate planning.

4/3/2013:  Melissa Willms's testimony to the IRS and U.S. Department of Treasury regarding the tax on net investment income quoted in TaxAnalysts. 

3/11/2013: Mickey Davis appointed the Chair of the Estate and Gift Tax Committee of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).

3/7/2013:  Melissa Willms's work on comments to the IRS and U.S. Department of Treasury regarding the tax on net investment income quoted in the BNA Daily Tax Report.

2/28/2013:  Mickey Davis named Lawyer of the Year - Trusts and Estates, Houston in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

12/10/2012:  Mickey Davis named a Texas Top Notch Lawyer - Trust and Estates by Texas Lawyer.

11/1/2012:  Law firm of Davis & Willms, PLLC receives Tier 1 ranking in Houston in Trusts & Estates Law from The Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News - Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" for 2013.

8/23/2012:  Mickey Davis and Melissa Willms named two of the Best Lawyers in America - Trust & Estates in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.