DAVIS & WILLMS, PLLC

We find that our clients appreciate having a written summary to help explain fundamental concepts related to estate planning and probate.  In addition, our attorneys frequently write and speak on various topics in these areas.  Below are some of these summaries and articles.

FAQs Memos -- Our "Frequently Asked Questions" memos provide straightforward answers to many common questions about various estate planning topics. Here is a list of titles currently available:

• Getting Started with your Estate Planning
• Tax-Planned Wills for Married Couples
• Second Generation Wills
• Impaired Judgment Documents
• Titling Accounts (for married couples)
• Titling Accounts (for single persons)
• Withdrawal Rights and Crummey Trusts

Basics Memos -- Our Basics memos provide more detailed discussions of selected topics. The following titles are currently available:

• Leaving a Letter of Instruction to an Executor
• Leaving a Letter of Instruction to a Trustee of a Revocable Trust
• What Every Executor Ought to Know
• What Every Trustee Ought to Know
• Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
• Trust Investments
• Asset Preservation

Professional Speeches and Articles -- Our attorneys are frequent speakers at continuing education and other seminars, and have published articles in state and national estate planning publications.  Many of these outlines and articles are lengthy and are highly technical.  Anyone should feel free to review them but they are not intended for the general public.  We include them on our website because attorneys, CPAs, financial planners, and other professionals frequently ask us for copies of speeches and articles, and the internet is an efficient way to fulfill these requests.  Some of our most recent articles are:

• Getting the 411 on IRC 199A: Just the Facts, Ma'am (Melissa J. Willms)
• All About That Basis: How Income Taxes Have Reshaped Estate Planning (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)
• All About That Basis: How Income Taxes Have Reshaped Estate Planning - slides (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)
• Knowing the Ropes & Binding the IRS: Income & Transfer Tax Issues of Settlements & Modifications that Every Fiduciary Should Know (Melissa J. Willms and Mickey R. Davis)
• Estate Planning for Married Couples in a Word with Portabiliy and the Marital Deduction (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)
• Estate Planning for Married Couples in a Word with Portabiliy and the Marital Deduction - slides (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)
• Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates - (Melissa J. Willms and Mickey R. Davis)
• Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates - slides (Melissa J. Willms and Mickey R. Davis)
• Ten Things Every Estate Planner Needs to Know About Subchapter J - (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)
• Ten Things Every Estate Planner Needs to Know About Subchapter J - slides (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)
• Yes! I'll Order that Trust Fully Loaded: A Report of the ACTEC Task Force on Trust Drafting (Mickey R. Davis)
• Distilling the Essence of Subchapter J - Fiduciary Income Tax Essentials for Estate Planners - slides (Melissa J. Willms, George Cushing, and John Goldsbury)
• Maneuvering Among the Mazes and Minefields of Modern Estate Planning: Helping Clients Plan in a High Exempion World - outline (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)
• Maneuvering Among the Mazes and Minefields of Modern Estate Planning: Helping Clients Plan in a High Exempion World - slides (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)

• Income Tax Basics for Estate Planners - outline (Melissa J. Willms)

• Income Tax Basics for Estate Planners - slides (Melissa J. Willms)

• Fiduciary Income Taxation and Subchapter J - outline (Mickey R. Davis)

• Fiduciary Income Taxation and Subchapter J - slides (Mickey R. Davis) 
• Evaluating Portability, Potential Problems and the Post-ATRA Planning Paradigm - outline (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)
• Evaluating Portability, Potential Problems and the Post-ATRA Planning Paradigm -slides (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)
• Planning for New Basis at Death (Mickey R. Davis)
• Between Death and Probate: Selected End-of-Life Issues (Melissa J. Willms)
• Decanting Trusts: Irrevocable, Not Unchangeable (Melissa J. Willms) (updated as of March 15, 2015 - previous version published in the Estate Planning & Community Property Law Journal)
• Trust and Estate Planning in a High-Exemption World and the 3.8% "Medicare" Tax:  What Estate and Trust Professionals Need to Know (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)
• Recipes for Income and Estate Tax Planning in 2014 (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)
• Who is Your Spouse? The Rise and Fall of DOMA and its Impact on Estate Planning in Texas (Mickey R. Davis)
• Funding Testamentary Trusts: Tax and Non-Tax Issues (Mickey R. Davis)
• Planning and Administering Estates and Trusts: The Income Tax Consequences You Need to Consider (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms with Theodore B. Atlass)
• Taxes for Trusts and Estates - New Taxes, New Rates, New Challenges (Mickey R. Davis and Melissa J. Willms)
• Warning! Your Annual Exclusion May Be an Illusion (Mickey R. Davis)

Special Note

Davis & Willms, PLLC makes the information it provides on this website available to the public for informational purposes only. The information provided is not to be construed as legal advice, is not guaranteed to be correct or up-to-date, and should not be construed as legal advice or an invitation to create an attorney-client relationship. You should contact and seek the advice of an attorney of your choosing to obtain advice or counsel regarding your personal situation.