Capitol Inside released its 2017 Texas Lobby Power Rankings and named principal attorney Joshua Massingill a “rising star” lobbyist. The publication’s biennial power rankings are a staple of Texas politics and recognize the state’s most prominent and effective advocates.
Continue ReadingNote: This article first appeared in the Fall 2016 edition of the Texas Journal of Chiropractic, the premier resource for Doctors of Chiropractic in Texas. In his book The E Myth Revisited, Michael E. Gerber opines that the fatal assumption made by many small business owners is that “if you understand the technical work of a business, you understand a business that...
Continue ReadingNote: This article first appeared in the Summer 2016 edition of the Texas Journal of Chiropractic, the premier resource for Doctors of Chiropractic in Texas. Many new doctors graduate from chiropractic school, decide to launch their own practice, and subsequently discover that while their education prepared them to deliver quality care to patients, it did not prepare them to own and...
Continue ReadingAs you may know, Texas is a community property state. This means that Texas law differentiates between community property, which belongs to both spouses equally, and separate property, which belongs to one spouse. In general, property acquired during marriage is community property. Separate property consists of anything one spouse owned before marriage, property acquired by one spouse by gift or inheritance,...
Continue ReadingOne of an entrepreneur’s first legal decisions often is deciding to create a limited liability company (“LLC”). This can be a great decision as it helps provide a limitation on the entrepreneur’s personal liability. But filing the paperwork to create an LLC is the beginning of the formation process, not the end. In order to preserve the limited liability...
Continue ReadingJoshua Massingill, Principal Attorney at Norton & Massingill, PLLC – a boutique law firm in Cedar Park, Texas practicing in the areas of business law and estate planning – has been appointed to the Texas State Bar’s Law Practice Management Committee. His term will begin in June 2016 and expire in June 2019. The State Bar of Texas Law Practice Management Committee is...
Continue ReadingIf you don’t have an estate plan, the state of Texas will ultimately decide who receives your property after your death, and a judge will decide who cares for your children (and pets). If this scenario makes you uncomfortable, consider making a comprehensive estate plan. There are many reasons to make an estate plan. The three reasons most commonly...
Continue ReadingContracts are a part of everyday life. Buying a phone, joining a gym, opening a bank account — all typically require you to sign a contract. For most people, signing agreements or clicking to “accept our terms and conditions” is simply routine. At times, this carelessness can come back to haunt us. It costs how much to cancel my...
Continue ReadingThe “laughing heir” (one who inherits property and laughs all the way to the bank because his relation to the deceased is too distant to warrant grief) is a common conceit in television and movies. A woman opens the mail to find a letter explaining that one of her long-lost relatives has died and, as the relative’s only surviving...
Continue ReadingMost people don’t spend much time thinking about planning their estate. It’s complex, daunting, and quite boring. (Editors’ Note: We actually find estate planning incredibly fascinating! But we understand that’s not normal.) Here are some of the top excuses people make for not devising an effective estate plan… Estate planning is for wealthy people. This is a common misconception...
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