Lewisville:  Frisco:
Flower Mound:
    •    Lewisville: (469) 948-4764
    •    Frisco: (214) 269-9601
    •    Flower Mound: (469) 817-3273

  • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Blog of David Heiman - Family Law Attorney - Divorce Lawyer

 David Heiman

David Heiman

Mr. Heiman has been successfully representing clients in divorce cases and other family law matters at both trial and appellate levels for over 25 years.

Tuesday, 30 September 2014 19:00

Can I Post a Negative Online Review Legally?

Can I still call a lemon “a lemon?” In my last blog post, I blogged about “defamation remedies in Texas,” which dealt with what you can do when someone lies about you online. This time, I am writing about your right to honestly review a business, even if that review is negative for the business.

With the rising popularity of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, some businesses have become increasingly concerned about being negatively reviewed by their customers online, where such reviews can rapidly become wide-spread. In light of that concern, more than a few American business organizations have had service contracts, or terms of use agreements, drawn-up, containing terms prohibiting their customers from saying anything negative about the goods or services of that company.

These provisions are usually referred to as “non-disparagement clauses.” They typically provide that in exchange for receiving the goods or services of the company, you agree to waive your right to say that the company’s goods or services are bad. Of course, the businesses don’t give you a discount on the costs of their goods or services in exchange for your waiver of your Freedom of Speech rights.

No, the waiver is something additional that you are asked to agree to give to the company.

Sunday, 30 November 2014 18:00

Divorce and Child Custody FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Divorce and Child Custody

Q1:  For how long must a person live in Texas before he or she can obtain a divorce in Texas?

A: The wife, the husband, or both spouses must have lived in Texas for at least the most recent six months (this is referred to as “being domiciled in Texas”)
Had a home for at least the last ninety days, in the particular county in which the divorce case will be filed (this is what is meant by “being a resident” of that county).

Thursday, 18 September 2014 19:00

Family Law

Family Law deals with many different types of cases such as marriage, divorce, domestic partnerships, child support, alimony, child custody, visitations, adoption, wills and estate planning.

Marriage and Divorce cases may not always involve children however it stills requires alimony or spousal support to be rewarded to one spouse. There are other factors that must be worked out including residency requirement, fault, property division, child custody, and martial property agreements.

Child/Children care covers a large range of case types. Adoption, child custody, child support, alimony, and even Child Protective Services involved cases.

Adoption cases have a lot of requirements because the state and the adoption agencies want to ensure the child is going to a safe and good home to good people.

Child Custody and Child Support cases are decided by the court with the desires of the child and what is in the best interest of the child as the most important factors.

Child Protective Services has the power by law to “take possession of a child without a court order.” They would only be forced to remove the child or children if there is an immediate danger to the physical health or safety of the child or if the child has been a victim of sexual abuse.

Family Law even extends to wills and estate planning because, typically, members of the family are addressed in both.

Wills are important in handling your assets after you have passed on. Not only does it ensure who is responsible for your burial, it also gives insurance to documents such as Power of Attorney and Declaration of Guardianship.

Estate Planning covers a wider array of important decisions which includes wills, trusts, health care, and guardianship. It provides for your family and also helps avoid issues such as litigation which can be hard on families.

Contact us for a free 30 minute consultation today!

We have two locations in the North Texas area:

  • Our Lewisville location! (469) 948-4764
  • We now have a location in Frisco! (214) 269-9601
Sunday, 14 December 2014 18:00

Estate Planning

Having an estate plan can set your mind at ease no matter what stage you are at in life. Estate Planning helps to layout a wide range of important decisions that includes wills, trusts, health care, and guardianship. The future of your family after you’re gone starts with a good estate plan. Estate planning helps protect your assets and make sure your wishes are followed legally. A good plan will help provide for your family if necessary and avoid issues including litigation that can tear families apart. It's important to adults of all ages because planning for the future, even if it's not yours, is important. 

Contact us for a free 30 minute consultation today!

We have two locations in the North Texas area:

  • Our Lewisville location! (469) 948-4764
  • We now have a location in Frisco! (214) 269-9601
Thursday, 18 September 2014 19:00

Wills

Wills, Powers of Attorney & Declarations of Guardianship: What's the Difference?

The organized life always includes a will that handles the disposition of your assets when you leave this world, as well as documents like Powers of Attorney and Declaration of Guardianship, which make provisions in case you become disabled. It’s never too early to create these documents to ensure that those who care for you are not burdened by unanticipated questions concerning your wishes. 

Many people have questions about Wills, and what Wills do. This is understandable since most people do not have a lot of experience with them. Among the questions that we commonly hear are the following:

What is a Will?
Under Texas law, a Testamentary Will (commonly called just a “will”) is the legal document which allows you to make a number of decisions which will take place upon your death. Those decisions include disposing of your assets, directing how you wish your remains to be handled (such as burial or cremation), appointing who you wish to be the legal Guardians of any minor children that you have, appointing an Executor to manage your estate as it makes its way through the Probate process, and so on. A Testamentary Will takes effect upon the death of the Testator, that is, the person who made the Will.

What Are the Limitations on a Texas Will?
Your Will cannot dispose of any property which you do not own at the time of your death, for example:
1. Life insurance- unless you have named your estate as the beneficiary of your life insurance proceeds, your Will cannot direct where those proceeds will go. This is because you have already awarded those proceeds to your named beneficiaries on your life insurance policy, and so, those proceeds are not a part of your estate.

2. Pay on Death (POD) bank accounts—often, married people will have a joint bank account, with provisions for the account balance to be awarded to whichever one of them survives the other. These are typically referred to as “pay on death accounts,” or “joint accounts with the right of survivorship.” Just like with life insurance proceeds (discussed above), your Will is powerless to transfer these funds, because you have already made a decision where they should go upon your death - to your surviving joint bank account owner.

3. Retirement accounts - as part of these accounts, you can designate your estate as your beneficiary, and thereby allow your Will to determine where these monies will go upon your death. Most people do not do that, though. Instead, they designate a spouse as their primary beneficiary, and if that spouse does not survive them, then their children. In any case, these funds are, also, not part of your estate, unless you set-up your retirement account to name your estate as your beneficiary.

4. Property which you have already sold, given away, or transferred - if your Will mentions where you want some item of property to go, but you no longer own that property when you die, then your Will can have no effect on that item. This may happen with a car or a house owned by the person making the Will at some point in time, who designates someone to take over that asset when the Testator dies. If the Testator gets rid of that item of property before his or her death, then that provision of the Will has no legal effect. It is no longer the Testator’s property to give away.

What Are the Requirements of a Valid Will?
The law governing Wills - the Probate Code - is some of the most formalistic and unforgiving that we have today. If the precise formalities of drafting, signing, and witnessing a Will are not met, then the Will is not valid. If that happens, then your estate will be administered as though you never wrote a Will. Not only does that make it quite possible that your property will not be distributed like you wanted it to be, but also that your desires for the treatment of your body may not be followed, and that the administration of your estate will be considerably more expensive (and likely, take longer) than would have happened under a valid Will.

Having prepared many wills, we are quite familiar with what needs to be done in order to ensure that your Will is valid. Furthermore, we can arrange it so that the witnesses to the signing of your Will would likely not have to show-up in court to testify about that signing.

Once You have Made a Will, can you Later Change It?
It often happens that we have a Will prepared, and our life circumstances change, making the provisions of that Will inappropriate or undesirable. For example, this commonly occurs when a marriage ends after the Will is made, or when a new marriage is entered into after a Will is made. If your life circumstances or your intentions regarding the matters contained within your Will change, then your Will can be revoked, and a new one prepared. Revocation is usually (but not always) done by the preparation of a new Will, expressly stating that all prior Wills are revoked. That way, there is not a period in-between when the old Will is revoked, and the new Will is created. We will be happy to discuss this with you in your free 30-minute consultation.

How is your Will used upon your death?
The person who has a Will prepared is called the “Testator.” Upon the passing of the Testator, the Will becomes effective.
The person whom your Will appoints as your Executor usually retains an attorney to handle the legal proceedings (called “Probate proceedings”) involved with giving effect to the Will. In Texas, nothing happens regarding that Will until it is filed with, and accepted by, the Probate Court. Once that happens, the Texas Probate Court will issue what are called “Letters Testamentary.” That document is the Court’s formal authorization for the Executor to handle the estate of the deceased. This means that the Executor can gather assets, negotiate with the estate’s creditors, pay debts, submit an Inventory & Appraisement to the Court and the beneficiaries, and distribute assets to those beneficiaries. Without the court’s issuance of the Letters Testamentary, the Executor has no power to do any of that.

Powers of Attorney
According to a 2013 United States Social Security Administration report, more than 1 out of every 4 of America’s 20-year olds will become disabled at some point before their retirement. If you should suffer a disability which prevents you from being able to sufficiently make decisions for yourself, then someone else will need to make some decisions for you. If you have prepared a Power of Attorney ahead of time, then you will have chosen who you want to take care of you. If you have not created a Power of Attorney, then the Court will appoint someone to serve in that role, as your Guardian.

When a Power of Attorney is created, there is an option as to when it will go into effect. Some people want them to go into effect only if and when two doctors certify that they are disabled. Other folks want their Powers of Attorney to go into effect right away. There are pros and cons to each of those arrangements.

Different Powers of Attorney cover different things, such as medical care and estate management. We have prepared many of these. 

Durable General Power of Attorney
This kind of Power of Attorney allows the person whom you appoint as your agent to take care of your business affair. This includes doing things like paying your bills, making decisions about your insurance and retirement investments, and dealing with governmental agencies (such as the IRS) on your behalf. Those are some of the more common powers granted in a Power of Attorney, but there are others that might also be granted, depending on the wishes of the person creating the Power of Attorney.

New Durable General Power of Attorney Form Used in Texas
The suggested form for these instruments was changed by the Texas Legislature in 2013. See Texas Estates Code Section 752.051. Over time the older forms may be less accepted by financial institutions and the government, as they become less familiar than the new form. If a Power of Attorney is not accepted, then it is not effective. So, if you have a Texas Durable General Power of Attorney prepared before 2013, it may be prudent to update it to the current form.

Medical Power of Attorney
The agent you appoint in this document may make medical decisions for you. This means that your agent may consent, or may refuse to consent, to medical treatment for you. He or she may also withdraw consent for those procedures. This includes the power to make decisions about withdrawing or withholding life-sustaining treatment. Unless you state otherwise, your agent has the same authority to make decisions about your health care as you would have had, with just a few exceptions. Your agent cannot, under a Texas Medical Power of Attorney, consent to: your commitment to a mental institution; Convulsive treatment; Psychosurgery; Abortion; and Neglect of Comfort care.

As with the Durable General Powers of Attorney, you may designate that the person whom you appoint as your agent to make medical decisions for you can make those decisions right away. But, most people choose to have their agent’s authority begin only when two doctors certify that they lack the capacity to make their own health care decisions. It can, sometimes, be problematic getting doctors to make that certification, out of fear of being later sued.

Declaration of Guardianship
Sometimes it becomes necessary for a court to appoint a Guardian for someone. This can happen when there has been no appropriate Power of Attorney made by a person before he or she has become disabled. It, also, can happen when someone whom you have appointed as your agent within a Power of Attorney fails or refuses to qualify to represent you; perhaps that person has predeceased you, or, maybe he or she is disabled; perhaps he or she feels unable to do a good job representing you. Or, maybe one of your relatives has sued to have that person removed as your agent, because your relative thinks that the agent is not doing a good job of representing you and your interests.

In any case, if a Guardian is deemed by the court to be necessary, then you can be in a position whereby you have previously designated your choice for Guardian. This is done in Texas by completing a document called a Declaration of Guardianship. Just as importantly, you can tell the court in that document who you do not want appointed as your Guardian. And, if you have done so, then that court cannot appoint that person as your Guardian under any circumstances.

Do you need to Have Estate Planning?
Every adult needs an Estate Plan, that is: a Testamentary Will, select Powers of Attorney, Declaration of Guardianship, and so on. Preparing those documents lets you plan in advance what you want to have happen if you become disabled, or when you leave this world.

On the other hand, planning in order to avoid Federal Estate Taxes is not necessary for most people. The 2014 Unified Estate and Gift Tax Credit (which is indexed for inflation) means that $5,340,000 is exempt from Federal Estate Taxation. That amount will increase in 2015. At the time of this writing, the exemption for 2015 is estimated to be $5,420,000. What this means is that only if your Gross Estate exceeds the applicable exemption amount will you need to Estate Plan for the purposes of avoiding or minimizing Federal Estate Taxes. And, the State of Texas, unlike some other states, does not have a state tax that applies to estates.

We will be happy to discuss the elements of your Gross Estate with you!

Contact us for a free 30 minute consultation today!

We have two locations in the North Texas area:

  • Our Lewisville location! (469) 948-4764
  • We now have a location in Frisco! (214) 269-9601
Thursday, 18 September 2014 19:00

Appeals Litigation Services

Handling Appeals

You have your day in Family court. The parties testify, their lawyers present evidence, and make legal arguments. At the conclusion of the trial, the court announces its decision. You may win in every respect, or you may be dissatisfied with the judgment of the court. Perhaps because it gives you less than what you had hoped for; or maybe the judgment goes against you entirely. When you are dissatisfied with the trial court’s decision, there may be a sound legal basis for having a higher court examine the record of the trial to search for reversible errors. David Heiman has successfully handled appeals, and related procedures, for more than two decades. He can advise you about your appellate options.

Please bear in mind that when you are considering either an appeal, an application for a writ, or a related procedure, time is always a very important consideration. You need to start moving on your appeal right away because the mere passage of time will limit your ability to seek an appellate remedy, unless specific steps are taken during prescribed time periods. Sometimes, all of those steps are taken in just the appellate court, but often, there are steps that have to first be taken in the trial court, shortly after the time when the trial judge signs an order. It can be confusing, even to lawyers who don’t have adequate experience handling appeals. We have the experience to help cut through that confusion for you.

Contact us for a free 30 minute consultation today!

We have two locations in the North Texas area:

  • Our Lewisville location! (469) 948-4764
  • We now have a location in Frisco! (214) 269-9601
Thursday, 18 September 2014 19:00

Child Protective Services

Child Protective Services (CPS)

When Texas Child Protective Services comes to visit you or your child (perhaps while that child is at school), it is rarely a good idea to ignore them. CPS has the power by law to “take possession of a child without a court order” if the CPS worker, a law enforcement officer or a juvenile probation officer has personal knowledge of facts that would lead a person of ordinary prudence and caution to believe that there is either an immediate danger to the physical health or safety of the child; or that the child has been a victim of sexual abuse.

Additionally, those classes of people may also remove a child without a court order, if they have information supplied by another person (typically, the person who makes the initial report to CPS) that is merely corroborated by some known personal facts which “together would lead a person of ordinary prudence and caution to believe” that (either) there is an immediate danger to the physical health or safety of the child; that the child has been a victim of sexual abuse; or, “that the parent or person who has possession of the child has permitted the child to remain on premises used for the manufacture of methamphetamine.”

So, what does all of that mean? If someone makes a report of child abuse or neglect to CPS, which provides “information” of the type described above, then the CPS worker can remove your child or children without a court order, even if the CPS Investigator lacks the ability to verify that information (such as when you avoid them), but has some other, unspecified personal knowledge of other facts that cause him or her to believe that your child or children may be in danger.

If you find yourself in the unavoidable position of having contact with someone from CPS, please contact an attorney immediately.

Contact us for a free 30 minute consultation today!

We have two locations in the North Texas area:

  • Our Lewisville location! (469) 948-4764
  • We now have a location in Frisco! (214) 269-9601
Monday, 09 June 2014 19:00

How to Find a Divorce lawyer

My Search For a Divorce Lawyer

Guest post by Ellen R

When you’re in the middle of a marital crisis, the last thing you need is to hunt for the right divorce attorney. My husband and I had separated and were exchanging terse emails, and I felt traumatized and not up to much of anything let alone Googling and asking friends (when I was embarrassed to even admit I was in this place). I called a lawyer friend and she gave me a few names. I went to their websites and entered contact information and we set up a call. I was first shocked at the hourly rate – she had given me the names of some of the top lawyers in the city – and the questions. What was our net worth? Did my husband have a personality disorder? Could I pay $10,000 for a retainer…today? One lawyer I talked to told me I was about to have a $90,000 lesson and I should think of it like paying for a college degree…NOT what I wanted to hear. A loan I’d made my husband would have to be written off, he said.

Wednesday, 04 June 2014 19:00

Tips for Selecting a Family Lawyer

Who should you choose as your lawyer?

One of the questions which I am frequently asked is some version of “Does it matter which lawyer I use,” or “What is the best way to select a lawyer for my Family Law case.” My answer to the first of those questions is along the lines of “probably” (depending on what is at stake in the case and how much agreement has already been made by the parties to that case). My answer to the second one is that a referral from a trusted friend, coworker, or colleague is usually, in my humble opinion, the best way to choose a doctor, accountant, plumber, roofer, or (yes) a lawyer.

If that personal referral from someone whom we know and trust is unavailable to us, then what strategy should we employ to find a good lawyer? Well, doesn’t it seem like the opinions of people who have used a lawyer’s services would be valuable to us? Most of us agree with the proposition that the best predictor of someone’s future behavior is his/her past behavior. Think about it: most of us know certain people in our lives who have been there for us when we needed them; and others, who have been less reliable. Don’t we feel like we “know” that the first group of people would be available to assist us if we needed help in the future? What about the second group: do we feel comfortable that they would have our backs?

In this day and age, most of us are connected to scores and scores of other people electronically. Just think how many Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and Linkedin connections you have. Many of us also have virtual relationships with folks on Tumblr, Pinterest, and elsewhere. How easy would it be for someone—a disgruntled former business partner, employee, or lover to damage your standing and reputation with many of the people to whom you are connected? How might that damage cost you?

Defamation —the making of untrue statements about another person which damages that other person’s reputation, has been actionable since before the founding of the United States-indeed, the courts of the King of England recognized defamation as being actionable as early as the Sixteenth Century. Today, however it is much easier to spread hurtful lies about another with just the click of a mouse. And, those lies can spread much further and faster than ever before.

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About Us

The Heiman Law Firm provides professional family law services in cases such as divorce, child custody, child support, CPS, adoption and more. We have been proudly serving clients, primarily in Denton County, for over 25 years.

Office Hours

Monday-Friday - By Appointment Only
9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Saturday Appointments Available

DFW Office Locations

Lewisville, Texas
405 State Highway 121 Byp Ste A250
Lewisville, TX 75067

  (469) 948-4764

Frisco, Texas
2770 Main Street Ste 179
Frisco, TX 75033

  (214) 269-9601

Flower Mound, Texas
2201 Spinks Rd
Flower Mound, TX 75022

  (469) 817-3273

  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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