Estates or ‘Decedent Estates‘

When someone kicks the bucket, everything he or she once owned becomes part of an estate for living people to fuss over.  If the estate is large enough, it must pass through the probate process, which is a legal process which formally resolves claims against the estate and distributes property to heirs named by a court or beneficiaries named in a valid will.

Sometimes, a ‘small estate affidavit’ (or maybe an Heirship Affidavit in a chain of title) does the same thing.

Depending on the circumstances, probate can be lengthy and expensive.  If no will exists, probate declares the identity of the heirs who receive an inheritance.  Sometimes, an heir is omitted from the declaration of heirship (a form of declaratory judgment), leading to a Bill of Review.

But even if a will exists, it may be contested, prolonging the probate process.  Typically, people oppose a Will when the Decedent didn’t know what they were doing when the will was made or was subjected to unfair influence or undue pressure (‘duress‘) when it was made.

Decedent Estates concern matters involving declaration of heirship (typically when there is no Will) and either the ‘dependent‘ or ‘independent’administration of the Estate of a dead person (‘Decedent‘).

A dependent administration requires on-going court supervision (the fiduciary is ‘dependent‘ on the court for instruction and approval).  An independent administration requires limited on-going court supervision (the fiduciary acts  ‘independent‘ of court oversight).  As you can imagine, an independent administration of an estate is preferred if you’re interested in saving legal fees.

Dealing with these types of issues can be difficult.  But Scott Boates  is qualified to help with any Houston Estate, Houston estate contest, Houston probate litigation or Houston will contest you may be facing in Texas Probate Court.

Probate Court: Widows, Orphans and . . .

Traditionally, Probate Court was known as the court for ‘widows and orphans‘  Truthfully, the complete, now-profoundly politically incorrect phrase is:  ‘widows, orphans and idiots.’  Today, the widows and orphans are protected through ‘Decedent Estates‘ and the idiots (my apologies) are protected through guardianship (and are always welcomed in leadership posts for local political clubs, red and blue alike).

Probate court originates from the doctrine of Parens patriae . . . the notion that government is the default protector of people unable to protect themselves (including the unknown heirs to an estate).

Inheritance is decided in a Probate Court, as is Guardianship.  Mental Health law (that is, Mental Health Commitment) is a sub-genre of Texas probate court jurisdiction.

Here’s an insightful quote about Probate Court, credited to Ben Franklin:  “If you want to know the true character of a man, share an inheritance with him.”

Trust me . . . Ben intended to include the feminine (not just the masculine) with that sentiment.

My Fees

My hourly fee ranges from $300.00 to $400.00 and my retainer is 4-5 figures (but see the next paragraph).  My contract contains an ‘evergreen‘ clause requiring that you replenish the retainer as you are billed (a ‘retainer’ is a continuing deposit for future services).   My consultations are never free — you pay hourly. Nothing I do is charged for less than 15-minute increments, but I do no-charge a lot.

However, I don’t desire to price myself out of the market place of good people who need good counsel and have difficult cases.  What good is a law license if it merely decorates a wall?

Still, I limit my caseload to 20-30 cases.  I run a law practice, not a divorce/child custody mill.  I pick and choose my cases.  But I am also the person who actually talks to you — you don’t talk to the assistant, the paralegal or the associate.

Typically, you just text me and then I will either call you or reply back to you.  I do that because I don’t keep many clients in my life, any more.  I want to finish the fight and keep moving.

You’re always part of me and I will always think of you.  But, once we’re done, I am not good at sending birthday cards, etc.  I will always send you love and hope, although you might not know it.

Once this is all over, I am certain that we all get back together and compare notes on our experiences.

Any way, you hire me, you pay me and I work for you. Thus, we should talk.

How I Practice Law

I focus on people. The product I produce is your future, informed by the experience of your past choices.  I work to deliver the highest quality legal counsel in a professional, approachable and common sense manner.  I like to win and tend to do so.

You’ll have my personal cell phone number and we’ll talk and text at will.  You’ll find that I return calls, texts and email promptly.  We’ll get to know each other well, which makes direct, honest communication (counsel) more likely.

But I prefer the cases in which a client is somehow ‘stuck‘ or, honestly, has their ‘ass in a crack‘ (so to speak).  Maybe, you’re at your wits end.  I look for real, viable stakes — problems and puzzles.  I want your case to make me think, contemplate and ask lots of questions.  So I rarely handle ‘routine‘ anything.

Your case will keep us both awake at night, anyway.  Let’s make sure that our lost sleep and our episodic anxiety and fears are a worthy price.

If you have a simple case, I probably won’t take it, but I probably know someone who can help.

A Few Words about Courts and Judges

Remember that judges are elected officials.  Even at the Federal level, those judges are ‘elected’ by the 100 members (voters) in the U.S. Senate.  The judges work for us, although we are the ones who stand up whenever he/she/they enter the courtroom.

Although we stand, we do not kneel, we do not bow nor do we genuflect.

I respect the system, but I don’t worship the system.  We live in a Republic, not a barn yard;  we are citizens, not livestock.  So join me in always keeping a healthy degree of skepticism about judges, the justice system and the power structures within government, religion, education and media.

I also recall the wise words of the late James Hippard, a civil procedure professor at UH, for whom UHLC’s mock trial competition is named:  “Never, never, never, never, never trust the judge.”

Amen and rest in peace, Prof. Hippard.

Rules to Remember in Family Court Litigation:

These 2 rules were taught to me by a better, smarter lawyer, my law partner, Mary Heafner:

1.  The cooperative parent wins in family court, not the bully or the gossip;  and

2.  Work to let go of your anger — you cannot drink poison (anger) and expect it will kill someone else.

Mary’s rules are the basis for my personal 3 Rules for Success for all prospective clients:

1.   Silence is power — silence in the face of crazy makes crazy people crazier;

2.  Don’t engage crazy — do NOT return their accusatory, angry texts, messages or social media posts (and don’t coach [poison] your kid);

3.  Cooperation wins — courts represent the culmination of social order.  So, as much as you want to fight, it’s better to stay within society’s lines, tow the judge’s line and nod gently at the people who proudly sport titles and badges (and weapons).  Rebellion inevitably comes.  You needn’t sacrifice your relationship with your child, in the meantime, to score points with people who are intoxicated with status.  Remember that cooperation wins in family court.

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Thank you for considering my services.  If you want to consult, shoot me an email and describe your case and the actors/parties and issues/stakes involved.  If there is a case history, tell me the county and cause number.

Then, if I think that I can help, I will send you a Consultation Agreement with a credit card authorization.  After that, we will meet and talk about whether I can take your case and represent you.

Best wishes to you,

Scott K. Boates

What’s a Lawyer Really For?

I see my role as your consigliere — your counselor.  Think Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) as counsel to Michael Corleone from The Godfather.  We all need counsel and direction during times of trouble; some of us bring on more ‘trouble’ than others because we don’t make conventional choices.

You can always google the law and lawyers are generally a dime a dozen.  I know the law, but you pay for counsel and advice.  Remember Lincoln’s wise words, “An attorney’s time and advice are his stock in trade.”

My Dad was a welder and his father was a farmer.  Each faced death on a battlefield in a World War.  So I understand that the ‘value’ I bring to your life is not clearly tangible.  Sometimes, people joke about lawyers billing to ‘think’ about a case, as if that’s unfair.  But, if we decide to work together, I strongly believe that good lawyers get paid for advice and thought, crafted onto paper.

My personal approach is to know the facts of your case and your personality.  I ask lots of questions most other lawyers don’t — I want to know about patterns in your life and relationships;  I want to know (to the extent possible) who you are and how you got yourself into the situation you face with your opponent.  I require that you pay me because I am not playing a game, and neither should you.

That’s just how I do things.

I also research your opponents and their attorney(s).  I will know what they’ve donated to your judge’s campaigns and I’m always updating my research on the judges themselves.  Personalities run the system, so you need to know them — good, bad and indifferent.

So I rely upon experience, information, intuition and execution to succeed. I personally draft, argue and negotiate everything that’s done on your behalf.  I personally prepare the case, and do so carefully.

3 Rules for Success in Family Court Litigation

When Courts Get All Crazy Up in One’s Business Under the Principle of Parens Patriae, Remember 3 Rules:  

1. Silence is Power; 

2. Don’t Engage Crazy;  and 

3. Cooperation Wins

In law, there is a doctrine (that is, an excuse for expanding political power) known as parens patriae.  It refers to the duty (power) of the Sovereign (state) to act as protector (parent) to the widows, orphans and idiots.

There’s a blog post explaining why I hold fast to the use of the word ‘idiot’ in writing this post.  Largely, I do so because I believe in the inherent power we have to control our perceptions, including our perceptions of words and language.  If we don’t exercise that power, we may as well be livestock in a barnyard.  Thus, I urge you to read that post.

Regardless, courts often (as inherently political institutions) act pursuant to the principle of parens patriae.

This post introduces 3 rules for success whenever rational people find themselves enmeshed in litigation within courts acting as Baby Daddy to the Masses, including:

1.  Family Courts deciding divorces and settling child custody disputes; and

2.  Probate Courts (county courts) granting estates for the dead and naming guardians for wards of the court (that is, incapacitated people, including minors who own certain property).

But the 3 rules for success are helpful in any hostile, high conflict situation.

The 3 rules for success are as follows:

1. Silence is power;

2. Don’t engage crazy; and

3. Cooperation wins.

Whenever a lawsuit involves a perceived vulnerable party, judges apply a particularly virulent form of judgement.  Inevitably, it’s only one part law, mixed with other parts holier-than-thou, subjective judgment.  It can feel both painful and profoundly unfair: cancel culture meets the courtroom.

But judges being judges, you’re typically stuck with what they’ve decided, although there are ways to hit the reset button, so to speak.

Importantly, your attention must be on the fight occurring before events leading to operative orders, including the days/weeks before a TRO hearing.  Final judgement inevitably comes, but a TRO can box-in a party for the balance of the litigation, or require repeated efforts at modification.

In family court litigation, it’s the ‘temporary orders’ that can hurt.  In probate court, it’s the appointment of the temporary representative of the estate or the would-be ‘incapacitated’ person.

Regardless, Judges love to wax eloquently (blather) about their (profound!) role in preserving (saving!) the lives of the widow, orphan and idiot.  Often, the judge is joined in the announcement of its grand, sacred task by a favorite acolyte — a court appointed ad litem/ amicus/ guardian.

Together, their predicable mantra is: “I am only in this for the child.”  Although touching (on its face), what? Do you seriously believe that I’m only here for a fee?  Or, how about my client, the (actual) parent?

Do you really think they’re only here for themselves?

In that sense, a lawsuit (and courtroom) starts to feel like an echo chamber, because the Judge and his/her Appointee (toadie) are also typically (and inevitably) aligned with one of the competing parties.

Yippee.  Now, everybody’s “only in it for the child‘ except me, of course. Instead, I must surely be ‘running up attorney’s fees‘ — Atticus Finch (and other make-believe characters) would be so ashamed of me.

Whatever:  Suck. On. This.

Indeed, the sense of a Gang-Up by the Inquisitors/Virtue Signalers becomes very real.  But that pattern also plays out in all of life, where the stakes are felt as more ‘corporate’ or group oriented (“If only those people would consider what’s best for the country,” the bully says).   So we all learn to deal with the reality of being labelled The Problem, but typically at a subconscious level.  Nonetheless, even in litigation, humans are a durable species, so long as we keep our heads straight (again, the 3 rules).

For any litigant or lawyer finding yourself stuck in such a triangulation, the keys to victory are:

1.  reliance upon the rule book(s) and due process, with no expectations from the Amicus Toadie, since they’re now part of the opposition (silence is power);

2.  preparation for a jury trial to push your own narrative (don’t engage crazy); and

3.  going along to get along until you’re ready to fight (cooperation [a sound battle plan] wins).

Everyone already knows that, absent effective, scorched-earth warfare, the Judge/Toadie alliance will always dictate the fate of the widow, the orphan and the idiot.  Thus, game over, ass kicked, correct?

No.

You must simply re-write (re-finance) the battle plan to expose the cracks in the foundation in the unholy alliance between Judge, Toadie and the opposing parties.  It’s You vs. Everybody Else, who (hello?!!) are only in this for the child! Unlike you (shyster lawyer!) who obviously hates children, Jesus and America.

So, your lawyer probably will NOT get a heartfelt, “How are YOU, Counsel?‘ the next time the Judge sees me in the cafeteria, as she mingle with the masses (!!). She’ll probably speak to everyone else, by name, except me, Mr. Loser.

I can only find solace in my fees, praying that selling my soul to Satan was really worth it.

At any rate, the cognitive dissonance for a triangulated lawyer is very real.  Lawyers (and other livestock) are inculcated with notions of loyalty to judges, courts and the system.  But the system exists for the people, not the players.  The lawyer must break free from the chains of indoctrination:  “I shall ethically serve my client, not the system; I shall remember my Oath to a Constitution that limits government, without assuring guvvy-jobs for the more political animals in the barnyard.”

But the lawyer also knows, “I will likely run into this Judge and this Toadie — individually, or as a Happy Meal — in my future.  I will also have other clients whose futures rest with these same professionals. But who’s to say this judge won’t need me someday?  What kind of judge or colleague holds a grudge against a good lawyer?”

Two words: primary challenge.

Indeed:  Suck. On. That.

Any way, good lawyers figure out that there’s nothing better than a happy client.  Also, Judges and Toadies come and go.  Thus:

1. Always reference statutes and case law and request a record in pretrial hearings, and reference the hostile opposition by titles, only, not names (silence is power);

2.  Focus on preparing your witnesses, your case and your theory (don’t engage crazy); and

3.  Serve your client diligently (cooperation [with the Universe] wins).

Still, all readers are hereby counselled (warned!) to take the Judge/Toadie ritual most seriously. Otherwise, in the holy name of their preferred mythical figure or droll model, you shall surely pay. I’m being a bit light, but the point is heavy:  your access to your beloved, demented mee-ma, minor child or that amusing Activist!/ inmate-next-door may surely end.  You needn’t kowtow; but you needn’t flatulate in their general direction, either.  Instead, merely render unto Caesar that which is her’s (all rise).

Thus, your success under such triangulation further demands awareness of the psychopathy which leads any person to seek social power over another;  awareness of what causes any lawyer to acquiesce to the will and largess of a judge (as her court appointee); and awareness of the genuine, sincere, illusion of moral burden which many Judges and Toadies insist they carry in such cases.

“I am only in this for the child.”  Alright, already, Judge, I heard the previous person who sat up there (the large white lady who mediates a lot, now) say that same, damned thing.  Let it go.

As you contemplate these rules, remember these further truths:

1. you are a stranger in a strange land, and the lyrics of Jim Morrison now assume real meaning (people are strange, when you’re a stranger … the streets are uneven, when you’re down);

2. the strange land is neither logical, friendly, nor fair to anyone, including your lawyer;  and,

3. as a traveler, you must go nowhere (and trust no one along the journey) without a guide  — namely, an able lawyer.

Last, the fees you pay your lawyer are for the ‘counselor’ role of ‘Attorney and Counselor at Law’ — you need to know the lay of the land, not merely the law of the land.  Thus, you pay for experience, intuition and the wisdom of the Third Eye.

Everything else is John Grisham, The Practice and other mindlessly buoyant bullshit:  woke, dope and Chron.com.

Truth:  everything else is distraction; it’s the prison rodeo.

Silence is power.

Don’t engage crazy.

Cooperation wins.

/s/ Scott K. Boates

My Background

• Graduate:  University of Houston (1988) and University of Houston Law Center (1991)

• Licensed to practice law in Texas since May 1, 1992

• Mediator since 1999

• Successfully argued before the Supreme Court of Texas in 2000; came close in 2012/13.

• Associate Judge, City of Houston — 2005-2011

• Certified as a Parenting Coordinator & Facilitator since 2014

• Born in Sinton, Texas and grew up in Refugio and Corpus Christi. Graduate of Calallen High School (1982).  Student Senator, Student Senate Speaker and Student Body President at UH. My undergraduate degrees are Bachelor of Sciences in both Political Science and Psychology.

• Devoted hiker and explorer.

• One child, Anna: when my child finally breathed, god gave me new life.

Child Custody Isn’t a ‘Fight!’ … It’s a Journey

Words matter.  While it’s tempting and natural to see every opposition we encounter as a fight, that word implies doing physical harm to your opponent. Although the word appeals to our core nature, it’s also a primitive approach to living.

Child custody lawsuits are just that — civil actions requiring courts to settle disagreements.  You don’t take a boxer, a warrior or a general into the action with you … you take a lawyer.

If we once felt strongly enough about someone to procreate (or otherwise share life), then we truthfully don’t want to hurt them, anyway (regardless of what we may tell our subsequent partners).  Instead, we’ve simply been hurt (betrayed, etc.) and express our fears, frustrations and anger through our words.

But courts (judges) and most jurors don’t embrace the lawyer or litigant who claims a ‘fight‘ for mere civil disagreement.  When you show up ready to ‘fight’ for your child … you look like a bully, a thug/thuggette or otherwise unstable — you’re not appealing.  Our true challenge in that circumstance is to overcome a primitive approach to disagreement and communicate the better angel of our natures …. and love our child in the process.

But I’ve also been there.  It’s taken me awhile to move beyond the ‘fight!‘ mentality and to see the family law process for what it is — just a delicate process, not an arena.

Plus, I figured it was better for my child if I grew up and got over the old lexicon.  It only takes one parent to make a difference.

Child custody litigation entails social studies, lawyers who dabble in social work and (gad!) actual mental health professionals … plus the judges who are thrown into the mix.  It’s not easy.  In fact, it’s complicated.

If we can help you navigate your path through child custody litigation or modification, please call us.

We’re careful and smart about the journeys we take … and any‘fight!‘ we choose.