{"id":12692,"date":"2023-03-19T06:00:09","date_gmt":"2023-03-19T11:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legaltalktexas.hammerle.com\/?p=12692"},"modified":"2025-06-18T13:06:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T18:06:18","slug":"step-too-far-when-attorneys-actions-cross-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/legal-talk\/step-too-far-when-attorneys-actions-cross-the-line\/","title":{"rendered":"The Step Too Far: When an Attorney\u2019s Actions Cross the Line"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Attorney Alex Murdaugh was disbarred by the South Carolina Supreme Court for an alleged insurance <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/7-ways-to-prevent-elder-fraud\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fraud scheme<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and allegations that he had stolen money from his legal clients. That was before he was convicted of murdering his wife and son.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Texas frowns upon attorney wrongdoing, too. Texas is so protective of clients that it prohibits attorney acts that merely hint of inappropriate attorney influence. This is especially true in estate planning and probate, two areas of practice where it is easy for an attorney to have an outsized impact on their client\u2019s decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You, as a client, need to know what attorneys are prohibited from doing to unduly enrich themselves.\u00a0 Here is a short list.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An attorney should never solicit a gift from a client.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An attorney should never ask to be included in a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/legal-talk\/greed-trumps-gifting\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">client\u2019s estate plan<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why Can\u2019t an Attorney Be Included in Their Client\u2019s Estate Plan?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you, the client, do want to include a particular attorney in your estate plan, then that attorney should not be involved in the preparation or drafting of the estate plan. Example: you want to leave $1,000 to your good friend and attorney, Don, in your will. Don is prohibited from advising you about, or drafting, your will.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That prohibition regarding drafting also applies to an estate plan where the attorney\u2019s relative is included in the plan. Example: You want to leave Don\u2019s wife $5,000 in your will. Don is prohibited from drafting your will, because you are leaving something to his wife.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The law on this point is harsh and unforgiving. The part of a written instrument, such as a deed or will, that the attorney supervised and that makes a gift to the attorney or the attorney\u2019s relative is void. No explanation, no justification, no innocent reason is enough to change that outcome. It does not matter if Don is your best friend and his wife is your business partner. If Don drafts your will, then any bequest you make to Don or his wife is void.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How can you get around that if you really want to leave something to Don and his wife? It\u2019s simple; have another attorney draft your will. The prohibition is not on you gifting something to them, the prohibition is on Don\u2019s involvement in drafting an instrument that enriches himself or his family member.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are a few common-sense exceptions. Attorneys can prepare routine estate plans for their family members that include the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/probate\/the-lawyer-as-beneficiary\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> attorney as a beneficiary<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Don, for example, could draft his wife\u2019s will that leaves everything to him.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can Attorneys Accept Gifts?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Attorneys can also accept some gifts from clients. The gifts just must be small or appear to be fair. However, even for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/legal-talk\/the-law-of-gifts\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">acceptable gifts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the attorney is still prohibited from drafting the gifting documents.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fiduciaries fall into a different category. You can name your attorney as a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/category\/wills-trusts\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">trustee<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or executor, and the attorney is permitted to prepare that document for you. The document can also provide that the attorney be compensated for serving in a fiduciary role, although the compensation is limited to amounts that are reasonable and necessary.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For many reasons, however, a lot of attorneys refuse to serve as a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/fiduciary-duty-best-practices\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fiduciary<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, so don\u2019t be surprised if your attorney gracefully declines to serve.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes clients like their attorneys so much that they want to include a clause requiring their executor or trustee to hire that specific attorney or law firm. It\u2019s a nice thought, but that type of clause is not binding.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hammerle Morris Can Help<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are you or a family member looking for legal assistance? <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/lewisville-attorney\/#form\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Schedule a consultation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with one of the experienced <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/lawyers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">attorneys<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at Hammerle Morris to discuss your options.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Attorney <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/lawyers\/virginia-hammerle\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Virginia Hammerle<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has practiced litigation and estate planning for 40 years. She is founder and managing attorney for <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hammerle Morris Law Firm<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Attorney Alex Murdaugh was disbarred by the South Carolina Supreme Court for an alleged insurance fraud scheme and allegations that he had stolen money from his legal clients. That was before he was convicted of murdering his wife and son.\u00a0 Texas frowns upon attorney wrongdoing, too. Texas is so protective of clients that it prohibits [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12692","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-legal-talk"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>When an Attorney\u2019s Actions Cross the Line | Hammerle Morris Law Firm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When selecting a practice to protect your assets it&#039;s imperative to understand the set of rules and regulations that the attorney has to follow to stay on the right side of the law.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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