Carrie Kemper Allen: Protecting Your Legacy—Why Estate Planning Matters More Than You Think

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio is my pleasure to introduce you to today’s guest, Carrie Kemper Allen, estate planning and probate attorney and founder of the Law Office of Carrie Kemper Allen. Carrie has been serving families in the Houston and Pearland area for more than 20 years, helping them navigate estate planning, wills, and probate with both expertise and compassion. With a background in business and finance from Texas A&M and a law degree from South Texas College of Law, she brings a practical, real world approach to protecting what matters most. I’ve actually had the privilege of working alongside Carrie since 2020, and what sets her apart is how she shows up for her clients, often meeting them where they’re at, creating a space that feels comfortable and supportive during what can be a very emotional conversation. She’s deeply rooted in family, community, and service, and truly cares about helping people create peace of mind for themselves and their loved ones. Carrie, welcome to the show.

Carrie Kemper Allen: Thanks, Trisha. I’m excited to be here today.

Trisha Stetzel: I’m excited to have you on. I know sometimes it’s a little overwhelming to hear all of those beautiful things about yourself, but I wanted to make sure that people knew really who you were from where, um, where I’m coming from. And I’d love for you to tell us a little bit more about you, Carrie.

Carrie Kemper Allen: Sure. Yeah. So, um, I’m a mom. I have, uh, two boys. One of them is 20 and one of them is 17. He’s graduating from high school this year. Uh, I’ve been married for 26 years. Coming up soon. Um, I love dogs. Um, I love to travel. Um, you know that, um, and, um, I, I like my job. You know, I like what I do. It’s not always the thing people want to talk about. It’s not always the time in their life that they’re excited about, but like, it’s a good fit for me. Like, I like to be the supporter and it’s a good fit for me. So I think it’s a good I like it.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I love that. Uh, and she adopts dogs or, uh, fosters dogs. Yeah, I do, I do.

Carrie Kemper Allen: I currently have a foster dog who’s been with us for a long time. So she’s part of the family for a while.

Trisha Stetzel: Well, and as long as you continue to call it a foster, it’s not failed. It’s not failed. That is correct. Still a foster.

Carrie Kemper Allen: And the dog trainer does say that our other dog has adopted her, not us. So technically, she is not a foster fail.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay, so that feels so much better. It really does.

Carrie Kemper Allen: It does.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay, so let’s start with the basics. Um, some people probably have their own idea of what estate planning means and what probate means. So let’s start with estate planning. Give us a little summary of what does it mean when you think about estate planning or when you engage with clients for estate planning?

Carrie Kemper Allen: Sure. So the biggest misnomer that I get from people is, well, I don’t have an estate because I don’t have a lot of money. Um, and that’s just not true. Everyone has an estate. If you own a home, if you have a car, if you have a bank account without a beneficiary on it. If you have a child. Um, everybody has well, not everybody, but most people have something in that category, right? So most people have an estate of some kind. Um, maybe you have a life insurance policy through your office or, um, you know, you’ve inherited something from, you know, a parent or a family member that’s part of your estate. And most people don’t consider those things because they hear estate and they think, oh, big picture. I have to have a lot of money to have an estate. And that’s just not true.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. So that’s very helpful. Um, as parents, should we be thinking about that? I know when our kids are younger, obviously we need to be thinking about that. What if we have grown children, children, kids that are turning 18 or even older?

Carrie Kemper Allen: Yeah, absolutely. That’s been a huge thing. Um, in the last, I would say five years. Um, and when, with, with all the HIPAA regulations and the privacy laws that we have, it is very unlikely that if someone has a child that’s over 18 and they need to help them with a medical decision if they’re in a car accident. Um, if they need to help them with banking because they’re having financial issues, something of that nature. Um, even just something as simple as, um, for, I’ll use my son as an example. Um, he takes ADHD meds and they’re controlled substance. So I couldn’t pick up his prescription at the pharmacy, um, because he’s an adult. Right. And, and I didn’t have that permission. Um, so I had to deliver his paperwork up to the, to the, to the pharmacy. Um, kind of a silly thing. But, um, I’ve had friends whose kids have been in car accidents up at college and, um, you know, they couldn’t talk to the nurse to get an update or anything like that. Um, so it’s definitely really important these days to get those medical power of attorney, um, statutory power of attorney attorney. That’s the non-medical one. So that’s the everything else document. Um, it’s really important for parents to get those two documents, um, for their children because first of all, an 18 year old doesn’t know they need them.

Carrie Kemper Allen: So we’ve got to guide them, right? Hey, I know that you don’t want me just to cut you off and throw you out. Um, you still want me to help you grow up and manage school and things? Um, what if they want you to help them pay for it? What if you’re helping them pay for school and you need to talk to the college? Um, you know, all those little things that we don’t think of as a big deal. And, and they may not really and truly, in the grand scheme of things, be a big deal, but because of privacy laws, they are a big deal. Um, so I just suggest to those parents, let’s get those kids, um, a medical power of attorney. Let’s get them a statutory durable power of attorney and let’s get them a HIPAA letter that says you can access their medical records. And then let’s explain to them why we’re doing this. This is not so mom can take over your stuff. This is not so. Dad can micromanage you. This is so if you need help. We can help you without having to jump through a bunch of legal. Whoops. Whoops.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. So estate planning something we need to go and take care of. So that if something happens to us that everything is in order and taken care of. And on top of that, some other paperwork that we need to do as our kids are aging, they turn 18 so that we can still be involved and gosh forbid you have to go pick up a prescription for them or talk to the school. You don’t have access without this paperwork. That’s so important.

Carrie Kemper Allen: Oh, and I’ve seen a couple of colleges lately who, um, have started putting out their own forms. Um, and I had a client actually call me and say, hey, I got this form from my daughter’s school. Um, it’s a medical power of attorney. They want you to sign it so that the kid can go to the medical facility on campus. Um, I mean, I thought that was a great idea. Um, because where, where’s your kid likely going to go if they’re living on campus and they get a fever or something, you know, that’s probably where they’re going or to the minute clinic. Um, so I’ve really seen a big uptake in universities and colleges doing things like that. Um, and I’m sure our friends out there will have noticed there’s all kinds of ads for that stuff online. Um, and you know, the discounted services that you can find online to do that. Um, and I have told a couple of people, you know, you’re welcome to get those, those documents online, just like you’re welcome to get them for yourself online. Um, but the issue that I see as a, as an attorney on the back side of that is people don’t understand what they’re signing and they have questions.

Carrie Kemper Allen: Okay. The that form, it can’t explain that to you and the form doesn’t also also doesn’t know all the nuances with your family situation. Um, so I always suggest to people, yes, you’re welcome to do that. And sometimes in a pinch, those are really the only option you have. Right? Um, but if you can, it’s always good to sit down with a professional, whether it’s me or any other, you know, legal professional who can explain to you why you need the document, what permissions it gives, how you can limit it or make it more broad. Um, because those are things that, that, that’s why we’re here, right? To, to help explain those things. Um, and then one of the things I like to do with the kids is I always kind of give them the, if I’m, if I’m here and available in the office, I’m not always able to do it, but just give them the, hey, look, here’s my card. If you get into trouble. Don’t talk right. Like, remember your, you know, remember your right to silence, right? Remember your right to an attorney. Those those aren’t just things that we say. Those are real things.

Carrie Kemper Allen: And, and, you know, take a picture of my card and stick it on your phone. If you need to call me first, I’ll call your mom for you. It’s fine. You know, just so that they know that there’s somebody on their side. That if they screw up real bad, you know, it’s not the end of the world. And we can help them. But if you screw up, you don’t want to compound a mistake, right? Like you, you’ve already screwed up. You’ve already made. You’ve already had an error in judgment. Let’s make good, good choices going forward from that point so that we can avoid the worst long term, you know, consequences. And I always like to do that because I feel like that’s one of those things. I was a good kid. I didn’t get into trouble, but I had friends and nobody ever told them that. Nobody ever said, you know, we were always taught. And I’m not saying it’s bad. You know, the police officers are the helpers. And I totally agree that they are. But if you are the one who is being questioned at that very moment, they are not the helper. Um, so yes, I.

Trisha Stetzel: Tried to get to the bottom of the problem.

Carrie Kemper Allen: Right? Right. So if I need help with a problem, I want them. Um, but if I am the problem, I need to protect myself.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah.

Carrie Kemper Allen: And then again, reminding the kids, please don’t be the problem. Right? Like make good choices. Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: This is, this is not a good excuse.

Carrie Kemper Allen: Right? And there’s value in having someone who’s not mom tell you that. Right?

Trisha Stetzel: Of course.

Carrie Kemper Allen: And give you a safe outlet.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. For sure. When I, I guess I, you know, for me, Carrie, just thinking about wills and all of those things, it’s and estate planning, it’s all for leading up to my demise and making sure that my family is taken care of. But there’s so many things that we need to think about while we’re still here that are very important. So for all of my friends out there who are my age, who do not have wills, can you tell us what happens, especially in the state of Texas, if you pass without a will?

Carrie Kemper Allen: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So in Texas, the answer is it depends. Um, and, and we kind of have two buckets, right? Like are you a married person? Are you a single person? That’s kind of our first starting point. So if you’re a married person, then we have to decide, do you have kids? Well, do you have kids? Do you have kids with your spouse or do you have kids from a prior relationship? Oh my goodness. Sorry. You know this.

Trisha Stetzel: I know the routine. It’s okay.

Carrie Kemper Allen: You do. And I even have my lamp on today. I know.

Trisha Stetzel: So for those of you who are not watching and only listening carries lights go out after a certain period of time. So it went dark in our office. We’re back.

Carrie Kemper Allen: Okay. Sorry. Just. It’s not every time. Ah. Um, so we have to decide kind of where your family fits in that and in our, you know, traditional 1960s nuclear family, that’s not such a big deal because it does go to the spouse and then to the kids because the kids are of the marriage, but not that’s not our families anymore, right? Like our families are blended these days. And, and, you know, we may be on a second marriage or we may have kids from another relationship. Those things all come in to set out how Texas determines your property passes without a will. So the number one rule is if you want to decide how your property is passed, you need a will. If you’re okay with the state of Texas telling you how it gets passed, they don’t get to keep it, but they get to decide how it gets passed. If you’re okay with that plan, you don’t need a will either. But I’ve, you know, it’s very, very infrequently that I find somebody who’s like, yeah, I’m okay with that plan because it’s just awkward. It cuts out the surviving spouse a lot of times. Um, and we, we have so many families where the surviving spouse. Yeah, it may be the second spouse, but maybe they got maybe they’ve been married for 40 years. Um, I had one a couple of weeks ago. They had been married for over 40 years and all of their children were children together.

Carrie Kemper Allen: But she was not the first spouse. Um, you know, so it just kind of throws a little wrench in there, right? Um, and they had, he had a child from his earlier marriage that was an infant that she raised, um, you know, really unfortunate situation with a tragedy that started that, that second family for him. Um, but that was his wife and the only mother that child ever knew. Right. Um, so that family obviously is treated a little differently than a blended family who came together with all grown up children and married late in life. But the law doesn’t see any difference in those two families. Wow. Um, so I, I definitely recommend you got to get a will and, and in Texas, we have this great provision, um, that allows us to do handwritten wills. So if, you know, budget is an issue, which I totally understand, it always is. And, and, and you can’t swing it to make it to work with a professional handwrite a will, a handwritten will is better than nothing. Don’t type it up and sign it. Do all those things because that’s where people get into errors. Uh, because we have certain ways it has to be signed to make it official. Just handwrite it, handwrite it until you can meet with a professional and then meet with a professional.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. So speaking of meeting with a professional, Carrie, what is the best way? Because I know people are already like, oh my gosh, I really need to talk to Carrie. What’s the best way to reach out to your office if they have questions or want to pursue getting their estate planning done?

Carrie Kemper Allen: Of course. So they can always go to our website, it’s k.com. Um, there’s an inquiry button on that website. Um, but if they want to reach out directly to either myself or my amazing paralegal, Marla, um, you can always email us directly and we have an intake email and it’s I n t a k e intake at callen-lorde dot com. So either one of those are great. Um, we certainly don’t mind if you want to email us directly. That’s not a big deal. Um, but if you want to use the inquiry form on the website, that’s great as well.

Trisha Stetzel: Perfect. I love that shout out to Marla. She’s amazing. She is amazing.

Carrie Kemper Allen: She is.

Trisha Stetzel: Alright. I want to tackle what I find most important because as you know, I have gone through this recently and it has been such a learning experience. I’ve told everyone that knows me, I’m going to write a book about it because what I didn’t know, I didn’t know, and now I know some, but I didn’t know everything. I want to talk about probate. So at a very high level, tell us what probate means. And then I’m going to ask you some questions because I’m still curious.

Carrie Kemper Allen: So if you have a will, the will doesn’t pass anything legally until it’s admitted to probate in Texas. So probate is really just the, the process of taking the will to the courthouse and getting it approved by the probate court and admitted to probate. There’s a whole bunch of different kinds of probate in Texas. Well, I won’t say whole bunch. There’s more than one. Um, and, and some of them require us to do a little more work after we get to the courthouse. And some of them don’t require as much work getting to the courthouse. Um, but probate is that process of making the will authenticated, proving that it’s legit, putting it on the record. Um, and then at that point, allowing it to be used for the official transfer of property.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. So can it only be probated after the person passes?

Carrie Kemper Allen: Yes. And I get that question a lot. You. There is a way to put your will on file in the courthouse. I don’t see anybody doing that in the last, like, ten years or so. Um, it seems like one of those things that we used to do before we had word processors and the will was like this big sacred piece of paper. Now that we can reprint it, if you want to change something all the time. It’s, it’s not as big of a thing. Um, but yeah, we, we don’t take it down there until you pass away. And then it depends on the type of probate that we do. As to your extensive, your involvement with the court after that process and again, in in probate in Texas, it’s not always scary. Um, you know, you have a will you take it down to the courthouse? We have a hearing. Uh, Marla and I file a bunch of pleadings for you on your behalf. Uh, we go down to the courthouse, we have a quick little hearing. Sometimes it’s a Zoom hearing. Um, and, you know, and, and then we help you with the back end of what needs to happen, but nothing can legally transfer until that will is officially probated and there’s an executor. It’s just not effective. It’s just a piece of paper until we get it admitted to the court.

Trisha Stetzel: Yes, yes and yes. And oh, by the way, y’all, even if you have like full power of attorney when your person is still alive, uh, when they pass away, you don’t have any authority any more until the will is fully probated and done. All of the stuff in court absolutely carries. Amazing. By the way, I’m just shout out to Carrie and Mala. Uh, and we did, we did Zoom. Uh, and it wasn’t scary. It was not scary at all. It was just I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And so between the time that my grandmother passed away and we got the will probated, I had no control over any thing. And I’m the executor for her will, by the way, you guys. So that’s why I had full power of attorney to begin with, but it was it was just really, really interesting to me. Now, you and I were having a conversation not that long ago about something called Lady Bird, I believe is what you called it. Can you tell me what that is again?

Carrie Kemper Allen: Sure. It’s another kind of one of those buzzwords that’s floating around out there a lot, but for good reason. It’s a really great option for a lot of families. So as families, you know, age in their estates simplify. And I mean, I’m not talking about we age like to 90. I’m talking about we like retire and we start consolidating our assets. We just don’t have as many things out there anymore. So many of our assets are, um, beneficiary designated, right? So I have a bank account and it says all to my husband on it or it goes to my kids after, you know, I pass away, that’s a beneficiary designated asset. Those items don’t go through probate. Um, so the things that go through probate are like, um, assets that don’t have a beneficiary designation. So you forgot to put one on your 401 K because. Whatever reason you did or it happens so often. Um, but your house is generally your biggest non profit, your, your biggest asset. And it’s generally along with a retirement account, the biggest asset that people have. Um, so you’ve got this valuable asset that has to go through probate in order to be transferred. So you have two options for avoiding probate. You have a trust, um, which is complicated and not always for everyone. Um, and then you have a deed, um, which is called a lady bird deed and a lady bird deed is, is a transfer on death deed.

Carrie Kemper Allen: They’ve been around for a long time. The lady bird deed is a Texas specific document. It’s, um, it’s created by an by, uh, case law and not by statute, if I remember correctly, the terminology. Um, and so it does a very same thing as a, a very similar thing as a transfer on death deed. But the cool thing about it is. You sign it when you’re alive. Um, and it basically allows your property to stay in your name and you own it and you can do whatever you want with it until you die. And then when you die, it goes to whoever you put on there. Um, so it’s really, really nice because, um, let’s say I, I, I age and I need to move out of my home. Right? But I’ve already lady bird deeded it to my kids. Um, that’s okay, because if I don’t own it when I pass away, doesn’t matter. I can still sell it. I don’t have to have my kids permission to sell it. Um, it’s kind of its own very special little, I don’t know, surprise. I really like it. It’s a really great option for so many families because if all of their big assets, their bank accounts and, and their retirement are, are going to go directly to their, to their beneficiaries.

Carrie Kemper Allen: The only thing we have to probate is their house and some cars, and there’s some really easy ways to handle our cars. Now, of course, this is not for everyone. If if you’re telling me your family is going to fight tooth and nail over everything you have, this option is not for you. Um, you know, and if you have a, a gazillion assets, you know, we have some, some clients come in and they have a hundred, a hundred toys, right? You know, they have boats and RVs and, and all these fun, great things, which I’m so glad that they have. Um, but then we have to change title on, you know, 15 things, you know. So we’re talking about a simple estate, right? That’s got a house that’s, or maybe a car. That’s really their only thing that’s not going to have to go through, that’s going to have to go through probate. Um, and it’s a really good option for those people. Um, it’s, it’s definitely a lot less than the cost of probate. Um, and they’re, really popular right now. Everybody’s everybody’s talking about them. Um, but for good reason. It’s a good option for sure.

Trisha Stetzel: And Carrie, can you help people with that as well?

Carrie Kemper Allen: Absolutely. They’re, they’re relatively easy to do. We pull up your legal description. Um, most of the time it is not affected by whether you have a mortgage or not. But most of my clients that are asking for these, you know, they’ve paid off their home, you know, they’ve lived in their home their whole life. We’re not talking about people that, um, generally I don’t see that being, you know, I don’t see clients doing that when they have a mortgage, you know, because if you have a mortgage, there’s more complications right after you’re after you pass, somebody’s got to pay that off, somebody’s got to sell your house and that kind of thing.

Trisha Stetzel: So yeah, we went through that. Um hum. Yeah, yeah. Right. Yeah. Right, right. I understand completely. Like I said, I’m going to write a book. I didn’t know what I didn’t know and I still don’t know at all. I’m still learning.

Carrie Kemper Allen: Well, I don’t claim to know it all either. I mean, I’ve been doing this for 20. It’ll be 23 years this year. And, um, I mean, they used to joke with us when we were in law school and even when I was a young attorney. You know, it’s the practice of law, like practicing medicine, right? Like you, you’re, you’re always practicing to be better at it. And I definitely feel like there’s still things I learn. Um, I definitely am not an expert. I would not claim to be an expert. Um, but I do like what I do and I’m pretty good at it. So, you know, I mean, yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. Okay. I know our time ran out so fast. This was amazing. So I know some people who are listening, Carrie already want to connect with you. They’re like, I gotta do the thing because it’s really important. And I know and I understand and other people are even more confused than when we started because they just don’t know where to start. So if someone listening knows they need to get started and get their estate in order, but hasn’t hasn’t even started yet. Yeah. What’s the first step that they can take right away?

Carrie Kemper Allen: They need to make an appointment with a professional. I mean, it just you don’t know what you don’t know. And you’ve said that several times, you know, during this. You know, you don’t know what you don’t know. And if you don’t know how the law is going to affect your family, you can’t make the right decisions. Um, now you can always start out by handwriting a little will not a problem. Go ahead and do that. It doesn’t hurt anything. Um, but again, you don’t know what you don’t know. So. So find a professional, even if all you’re doing is just consulting with them to get an idea of where to go, what needs to happen. It’ll give you clarity on where you need to go and what steps you need to take, because there are steps you can take on your own.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Y’all don’t wait. Please take action because if you don’t, the state gets to make all of the decisions for you after you’re gone. And no one no one. I shouldn’t say no one. Most people don’t want that.

Carrie Kemper Allen: Well, and the other thing, Trisha on that too, and I’m telling people this all the time, it costs three times more and takes three, four times as long to do it, you know? So leave the plan. Have the peace of mind for yourself and for your family. You know, it just it’s it’s worth that, right? Like having that peace of mind and knowing I took care of my business. Yeah. It wasn’t the most fun thing to talk about. It’s not what I want to meet up on Saturday and chit chat over, you know, the game. But it’s important and it’s important for the people we’re leaving behind.

Trisha Stetzel: It is absolutely true. And, um, so from me to all of you who are listening, invest in that now. While you can still make those decisions, it will make all the difference in the world.

Carrie Kemper Allen: Absolutely, absolutely.

Trisha Stetzel: Everything that comes after that. So carry one more time. If people want to engage with you or reach out to your office, what’s the best way to do that?

Carrie Kemper Allen: Yeah. So they can go to our website, it’s K Allen law.com. Um, or they can email us directly and it’s intake I n t a k e@law.com. Perfect. And you.

Trisha Stetzel: Guys, I feel like it should be Halloween, like we should tell ghost stories because Carrie’s office went dark and.

Carrie Kemper Allen: Light.

Trisha Stetzel: Went off again. Here it comes. It’s all good. Carrie, thank you so much for spending the time with time with me today. Um, I really, really appreciate you helping build some clarity around estate planning and probate and even some of the other programs or things that you’re doing for people and you’re amazing. Your office is amazing. And I love that. Not only do you treat everyone in your office as family, but you treat your clients like family too. So thank you.

Carrie Kemper Allen: Yeah, I appreciate it. Thanks for giving me the opportunity today. Trisha. It was really fun.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. All right, you guys, that’s all the time we have for today. If you found value in this conversation that I had with Kari, please share it with a fellow entrepreneur, veteran, or Houston leader ready to grow or that sandwich family that, you know, that has growing kiddos at home and is caring for aging parents and grandparents. Also, be sure to follow, rate, and review the show. It helps us reach more bold business minds just like yours and your business. Your leadership and your legacy are built one intentional step at a time. So stay inspired, stay focused, and keep building the business and the life you deserve.