Most Austin families know they need an estate plan. Few know exactly what one should include, what it should cost, or how a real plan differs from the templates floating around online. The Pabst Law Firm, PLLC is an Austin estate planning practice built around fixed-fee packages and direct leadership access. Frank Pabst serves as our CEO and Primary Attorney, acting as the driver and lead designer of every estate plan. Nicky Pabst, our Chief Operating Officer (COO), leads the firm’s operational engine and administrative team, guiding families through the planning, intake, organization, and client-experience process.
Whether you are starting from scratch, updating an outdated plan, or coordinating estate planning with a Texas business succession strategy, every engagement gets treated as counsel rather than paperwork. We design comprehensive strategies involving wills, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and our proprietary Pabst Kids Safeguard System for families across Travis County who want one thing above all else: To stay out of court and out of conflict.
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What Estate Planning Covers in Texas
Estate planning is more than writing a will. A proper Texas plan accounts for what happens to your property, your medical care, your minor children, and your financial decisions across three different scenarios: incapacity, death, and the years before either one. Every plan Frank designs is built to address all three.
The core documents Frank routinely architectures include:
Last Will and Testament. Drafted to meet strict Texas Estates Code requirements.
Revocable Living Trust: Where appropriate to ensure privacy and probate avoidance.
Durable Financial & Medical Powers of Attorney: Naming trusted agents to act if you cannot.
Directive to Physicians and HIPAA Authorization: Honoring your medical wishes.
Pabst Kids Safeguard System: Advanced guardianship documents for parents of minor children.
Coordination with beneficiary forms on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and payable-on-death bank accounts is part of every plan. A plan that ignores beneficiary forms is a plan that fails, because beneficiary designations often override what your will says. Under Nicky’s operational leadership, our team ensures these assets are properly integrated with your legal documents.
Why Estate Planning Matters for Austin Families
Without a plan, Texas decides for you. Under the Texas Estates Code, intestate succession dictates who inherits when someone dies without a valid will. The results frequently surprise families. Separate property and community property follow different rules, a surviving spouse may not inherit everything, and minor children may require court-supervised guardianships that drain time and money.
The Travis County Probate Reality
Many people believe probate is a quick formality. The truth is different. Even straightforward Travis County probate involves administrative delays; we design plans specifically to avoid court oversight. Properly drafted and funded revocable living trusts, combined with strategic beneficiary planning, often avoid probate entirely for the assets that matter most.
The 2026 Tax Landscape
Texas does not impose a state estate tax. For 2026, the federal estate tax exemption is $15 million per person. While most Austin families fall under this threshold, advanced planning remains essential for business owners, real estate investors, and families with rapidly appreciating assets to manage exposure and protect their growth.
Common Estate Planning Mistakes We See in Austin
Most plan failures are not the result of bad lawyering; they are the result of one-size-fits-all forms. Online templates create documents that look complete but fall apart at the moment they are needed. Common patterns include:
Unfunded Trusts: Revocable living trusts that were drafted but never funded, forcing the home and accounts into probate anyway.
Beneficiary Conflicts: Designations that contradict the will, such as life insurance still naming an ex-spouse.
Formalities Failures: Powers of attorney that fail Texas statutory requirements and are rejected by banks.
Guardianship Gaps: Leaving minor children with only a single sentence in a will, providing no protection for the short-term window following an emergency.
How the Pabst Law Firm Builds Your Plan
Our process is straightforward and unhurried. We’ve streamlined our approach for modern families, utilizing secure video signings to provide maximum convenience without sacrificing legal ceremony.
- The Discovery Conversation. You sit down with us, free of charge. Frank listens to your goals, family dynamics, and concerns. This is where the legal architecture is born.
- The Design Phase. Frank presents a fixed-fee package that matches the level of protection your family needs. Our Wills and Directives package starts at $1,500 to $2,500. Our Full Trust-Based Plan ranges from $4,000 to $7,000+ depending on complexity.
- Drafting and Review. Every document is prepared and walked through in plain English. You leave the review meeting understanding exactly what each piece does.
- The Signing Ceremony. Performed via secure video. You execute your plan with total confidence and zero commute.
- Asset Integration. Nicky and her administrative team lead the logistical process of retitling assets into your trust and updating beneficiary forms so your plan actually works.
Local Considerations for Travis County Estates
Austin estate planning is not generic. The reality of Travis County estates reflects the area’s wealth profile and asset types. Real estate values in Austin have created paper-millionaire households who need sophisticated planning to protect their equity.
Frank’s designs account for tech equity, restricted stock (RSUs), and pre-IPO holdings that generic plans miss. We also address oil, gas, and mineral interests common in Texas family land. Because Travis County Probate is public and slow, Frank designs plans with court avoidance as the primary goal whenever possible.
(512) 641-2676