Two hundred and fifty years ago, the inhabitants of thirteen colonies in the Americas did an incredible thing: they declared themselves independent of an unjust government.    Their representatives drew up a declaration to document the reasons for their extraordinary action, and to inspire the people to make the sacrifices that would be necessary to win freedom.  Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness  They stated that all men were created equal, and that the purpose of a government was to...

When a person dies, his or her relatives often rush to pay that person’s credit cards and other bills.   Bad idea.   In some circumstances, a bill may never have to be paid.   We’ll briefly explain how creditor claims work in the world of probate and then discuss an actual court decision.  Independent Administration vs. Dependent Administration   Texas has an extraordinarily easy type of probate called independent administration, which is used for most probate estates.   In an independent...

“On October 27, 1969, Prosenjit Poddar killed Tatiana Tarasoff.”  The California Supreme Court began its 1976 landmark opinion with this sensational opening.  What followed quickly became known as the “Tarasoff rule.”  What is the Tarasoff Rule?  The events leading to the decision were tragic.   According to Psychology Today, Poddar was an Indian graduate student at UC Berkeley. He had been seeing a psychologist about his obsession with Tatiana, who he was stalking. Poddar reportedly told the psychologist that he was...