Round Rock Probate Attorney for Professionals, Business Owners, and Young Families

Round Rock estates rarely fit on one page. A typical file holds a house, two 401(k) accounts, a pile of company stock, a life insurance policy through work, and a phone full of online accounts. Most of that money never touches the will. A Round Rock probate attorney can map every asset, tell you which ones need a court order, and protect the deadlines that expire on their own. Michalk, Beatty & Alcozer, L.P. has served Central Texas families for two decades, and Attorney Jay R. Beatty handles our probate work himself. This page covers what Round Rock families ask us most: which county's court to use, how work benefits and stock plans pass, and what young parents need in place. For the wider picture, see our Central Texas probate practice.

Round Rock is home to Dell Technologies' headquarters, a large school district, and a busy healthcare and retail sector. Many families here depend on employer retirement plans and equity pay, and many others run their own businesses. Their estates look nothing like a farm family's or a retiree's, and they need a different checklist.

How a Round Rock Probate Attorney Helps Williamson County Families

We build an asset map first. Every account, policy, plan, and deed goes on one sheet, along with the name of the person it pays and whether it needs a court order. That map answers the question families care about most: how much of this estate actually goes through probate? A large estate can need the court for only a few assets, and knowing which ones saves months.

Then we act. We file the case in the right county, notify the plans and the creditors, and keep the executor on the right side of every deadline. When the work is done, we close the estate and hand you the paperwork.

Round Rock Sits in Two Counties, So Check Yours First

The city says Round Rock lies mainly in Williamson County, with a small area in Travis County to the south along I-35. Texas files probate in the county where the person lived at death (Estates Code § 33.001), so your loved one's address picks the court.

A Williamson County address means the County Clerk and one of the county's four county courts at law, at the Williamson County Justice Center, 405 Martin Luther King Street, 2nd Floor, Georgetown, TX 78626. Our Georgetown probate page explains how that courthouse handles filings. A Travis County address means Travis County's probate court in Austin, which is a different court with its own local rules.

Don't guess the county from the city name or the ZIP code. Look at the property tax bill or the appraisal district record. Our Round Rock probate attorney confirms the county before we file anything, because a case opened in the wrong county can lose weeks.

Work Benefits That Skip the Will

Many Round Rock families discover that the biggest accounts have a beneficiary form, not a will. Employer 401(k) plans, group life insurance, and pension plans pay the person named on file. Under federal law (ERISA), a married person's spouse is the default 401(k) beneficiary unless the spouse signed a written waiver. Teachers and school staff in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas also name a beneficiary on a form.

Forms go stale. People change jobs and forget the old plan. A divorce doesn't always wipe an ex-spouse from a work plan, because federal law can require the plan to pay whoever is on file. In the first meeting we list every plan and match each one to the form on file. Then we call each plan administrator to confirm who is listed, since a family's memory and a plan's records often disagree.

Ask the employer's HR team about the small items too: the final paycheck, any unused vacation payout, a health savings account, and group life insurance beyond the basic policy. Employers rarely volunteer these, and together they can add up to thousands of dollars.

Stock Options, RSUs, and Employee Stock Purchase Plans

Equity pay is where Round Rock estates get expensive to ignore. Each plan has its own rules, and the grant agreement controls. Unvested restricted stock units may be forfeited at death or may vest early, depending on the plan. Vested stock options usually expire on a deadline after death, sometimes within months, and an expired option is worth nothing. An employee stock purchase plan may refund the payroll contributions to the estate.

Three steps protect the value:

Find every grant agreement and plan summary. Check old emails, the employer's equity portal, and the broker's statements.

Get letters testamentary quickly. Plan administrators and brokers won't release shares to anyone without them.

Calendar every exercise deadline the day we learn of it. A missed date can erase a six-figure option.

Inherited shares generally receive a stepped-up basis equal to their value on the date of death, which cuts the tax bill on a later sale.