Practice Areas

PRACTICE AREAS

Paup, Shutt & Associates is a Fort Worth law firm focused on the legal matters that matter most at every stage of life, protecting your assets, planning for your family’s future, and navigating the legal system when you need it most. Our team brings decades of hands-on experience to every client. Both partners are Board Certified in their practice areas.

ESTATE PLANNING

A complete estate plan in Texas usually includes a will, a trust, a financial power of attorney, a medical power of attorney, a directive to physicians, and a declaration of guardian. Each document covers a different scenario. Which combination is right for your family depends on your situation, your assets, and your goals.

Jane D. Pirtle has been helping families navigate through their estate planning decisions for nearly 45 years.

PROBATE

Texas gives families several ways to handle an estate after someone passes, which one applies depends on how the estate was structured, the assets, whether there are debts, and whether anyone is contesting anything. Most families can find out in one conversation which path fits their situation.

Henry Paup is Board Certified in Estate Planning and a licensed CPA. He is one of the few attorneys in Texas who can handle both the legal structure and the tax side of your plan in the same conversation.

ELDER LAW

We help seniors and their families think through the legal side of aging, incapacity planning, long-term care decisions, and what happens at end of life.

Henry Paup is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. The earlier you plan, the more options your family has.

GUARDIANSHIPS

Guardianship gives someone the legal authority to make decisions for a family member who can no longer make them safely. It is a serious step, and Texas courts take it seriously. There are often less restrictive options worth considering first.

Aaron Shutt is Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and served on the Board of Guardianship Services, Inc., in Tarrant County for many years — three as president. He knows how these proceedings work from the inside.

SPECIAL NEEDS

Special needs trusts, ABLE accounts, Medicaid waiver navigation, and supported decision-making arrangements are each built for different situations. Which structure works depends on where the assets come from, what benefits the person receives, and where the person is in life, especially around the age of 18, when household-based benefit calculations shift to individual eligibility.

Aaron Shutt has built his practice around special needs planning over the past eighteen years. He regularly speaks for organizations across DFW, including Helping Restore Ability, Cook Children’s, and parent support groups.

MEDICAID PLANNING

Qualifying for Medicaid long-term care in Texas is not automatic. There are asset limits, a 60-month look-back period, and rules that differ from federal guidelines in important ways. We work with families on proactive planning and on crisis planning when placement is already happening.

BUSINESS PLANNING

We help Fort Worth business owners with entity formation, operating agreements, and contracts. Henry Paup is a licensed attorney and a CPA. Legal questions and tax questions tend to come up at the same time. We can handle both.

REAL ESTATE

Most of our real estate work connects to estate planning. Lady Bird deeds, transfer on death deeds, affidavits of heirship, and title questions that come up during probate. Jane D. Pirtle is a licensed attorney who can also help with residential and commercial deed preparation and contract review.

TAX PLANNING

We advise on estate, gift, and income tax planning. Henry Paup is admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. He holds Board Certification in Estate Planning and a CPA license.

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