About Our Firm
Welcome to the website of The Law Office of Patricia M. Whitfield, a full-service estate planning, probate and trust administration law practice located in Austin, Travis County, Texas. Our firm was founded in 2012 by Patricia M. Whitfield, Esq., a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, with the express purpose of providing comprehensive estate planning legal services to individuals, families, and small business owners throughout the Austin metropolitan area, including Travis County, Williamson County, Hays County, and surrounding Central Texas counties.
At The Law Office of Patricia M. Whitfield, we understand that estate planning is one of the most important things you will ever do for your family. The decisions you make today regarding your estate plan, the disposition of your assets, the appointment of guardians for your minor children, the appointment of fiduciaries to manage your affairs in the event of incapacity, and the structuring of trusts for asset protection and tax minimization purposes will have lasting consequences for generations to come. That is why we take the time to listen carefully to each and every one of our clients in order to fully understand their unique family circumstances, financial situation, personal values, and long-term planning objectives before recommending a comprehensive estate plan tailored to their individual needs.
Our practice is limited exclusively to estate planning, probate and trust administration matters. We do not handle personal injury cases, divorce cases, criminal matters, or any other unrelated areas of law. This focused approach allows us to maintain a high level of expertise and to stay current on the ever-changing landscape of Texas estate planning law, federal estate and gift tax law, generation-skipping transfer tax law, and the various state and federal regulations that affect our clients' planning. To learn more about Patricia, please click here to read her biography.
Our Practice Areas
The firm offers a comprehensive range of estate planning and probate legal services, including but not limited to the following:
- Last Will and Testament: A will is the foundational document of any estate plan. It directs the disposition of your probate property, names guardians for minor children, designates an independent executor to administer your estate, and may create testamentary trusts for the benefit of your heirs.
- Revocable Living Trusts: A revocable living trust is a flexible estate planning vehicle that allows you to maintain control of your assets during your lifetime, provides for the management of your assets in the event of incapacity, and avoids the time and expense of probate at your death.
- Irrevocable Trusts: Including irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs), spousal lifetime access trusts (SLATs), charitable remainder trusts (CRTs), and other advanced planning vehicles.
- Durable Powers of Attorney: Both statutory and customized durable powers of attorney for financial matters, allowing your designated agent to manage your financial affairs in the event of incapacity.
- Medical Powers of Attorney and Advance Healthcare Directives: Including HIPAA authorizations, designations of guardian, and physician's directives ("living wills").
- Probate & Estate Administration: Independent administration, dependent administration, muniment of title, small estate affidavits, determinations of heirship, and contested probate matters.
- Trust Administration: Counseling trustees on their fiduciary duties, trust accountings, distributions, terminations, and trust modifications.
- Special Needs Planning: Including first-party and third-party special needs trusts, ABLE accounts, and Medicaid planning.
- Business Succession Planning: Buy-sell agreements, family limited partnerships, and business continuity planning.
Why Choose Our Firm?
When you retain The Law Office of Patricia M. Whitfield, you can be confident that your estate planning matter will receive the personal attention it deserves. Unlike larger firms where your file may be passed off to junior associates and paralegals, every estate plan we draft is personally reviewed and signed off by Ms. Whitfield. We pride ourselves on providing high-quality, sophisticated estate planning legal services at reasonable rates. Initial consultations are FREE and may be conducted in person at our Austin office, by telephone, or via video conference for the convenience of clients with mobility issues or who reside outside the Austin metropolitan area. To schedule a consultation, please call our office at (512) 555-0188 during regular business hours, or send an email to info@whitfieldlaw.com and we will respond within one business day.