When drafting a will, many people want to leave their assets to beneficiaries with certain conditions attached. This raises a crucial question in estate planning: are these conditional bequests legally enforceable? The short answer is yes, it is legally enforceable to include conditions in a will. However, while it is possible, it can lead to […]
Month: August 2025
How to Handle Personal Property in a Real Estate Transaction
When buying a residential property, you’re not just purchasing the land and the house; you may also want to acquire certain personal items, such as refrigerators. This can be a point of confusion because there’s a legal distinction between real and personal property. Properly addressing personal property in a real estate transaction is crucial to […]
When Things Go Missing: Hotel Liability
When you travel, hotels offer a variety of convenient services, including laundry service. But what happens when you send out your clothes and they, along with some valuable items you accidentally left in them, go missing? A common assumption is that the hotel is liable for any and all losses. However, the legal reality is […]
How to Keep Property Ownership Anonymous
In today’s world of online data and searchable public records, many Texans are concerned about privacy—especially when it comes to real estate. While it’s impossible to make property ownership completely invisible, there are a few strategies to help reduce the public footprint of your ownership. Use “Current Owner” on Appraisal Records The most visible source […]
Why Ownership Records at the Appraisal District Don’t Matter
One of the most common misconceptions among Texas property owners is that the local appraisal district determines legal ownership of real estate. While appraisal district websites are often the easiest way to look up property information online, they do not control or verify who legally owns property in Texas. The Role of the Appraisal District […]
The Anticybersquatting Act Explained
In the era of digital real estate, the rush to register valuable domain names has sparked a number of legal issues. Chief among them is cybersquatting—the act of registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad-faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. To combat this, Congress […]
How to Notarize: Acknowledgements and Jurats
Understanding the difference between an acknowledgment and a jurat is critical for anyone involved in the execution of legal documents in Texas whether you’re a lawyer, a notary public, or a member of the general public handling your own legal matters. Acknowledgements: Verifying Identity, Not Content In Texas, a notarial acknowledgment is used when the […]