About Catherine

Catherine began her own firm after practicing law in Fort Worth and Dallas for 27 years.  Catherine concentrates her practice in estate planning, probate and guardianship matters and related litigation. She represents clients in both independent and dependent probate administrations, including contested and uncontested matters.  She also handles both contested and uncontested guardianship matters. Catherine’s practice also consists of fiduciary, probate, and trust litigation matters.

 

Catherine is Past President of the Tarrant County Probate Bar Association, and is finishing a four-year term as Chair of the Guardianship Committee of the Real Estate, Probate & Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.  She is a frequent speaker at numerous continuing education courses for the State Bar of Texas, having served as course director, as well as speaking for local bar and lay associations.

 

She is Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).

 

Catherine lives in Northeast Tarrant county with her husband of 24 years and their two children where she is involved with their schools and activities.  

Education

• Baylor University School of Law, Waco, Texas, J.D. (1994)

• Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas, B.A., Political Science and Spanish (1991)

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Additional Highlights & Honors

• Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Estate Planning and Probate Law (2001 to present)

• Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel [(ACTEC); 2012 to present]

• Martindale - Hubbell Peer Review Rating: AV Preeminent 

• Member, American, Texas, and Tarrant County Bar Associations

• Decedents’ Estates Council Member, Real Estate, Probate, and Trust Law Section (REPTL), State Bar of Texas  (2012-2016)

• Ad Litem Award, Guardianship Services, Inc. (2007)

• Fort Worth, Texas Magazine, Top Lawyers in Tarrant County (2001, 2007 to present)

• 360 West Magazine, Top Lawyer in Wills, Trusts and Estates (2018)

• Rising Star and Texas Super Lawyer, Texas Monthly & Texas Super Lawyers Magazines (2005, 2007–2009; 2011 to present)

• Fellow, Texas Bar and Tarrant County Bar Foundations

• President, Tarrant County Probate Bar Association (2006–2007)

• President (2016-2017), Alliance For Children, Tarrant County, Texas (2011 to 2019)

• Board Member, Guardianship Services, Inc. (2012 to 2015)

• Past President, Heritage Elementary School PTA (Grapevine, Texas)

• PTA Board Member, Heritage Middle School & Colleyville Heritage High School (Colleyville, Texas)

• Colleen Colton Service Award and Ad Litem Award, Guardianship Services, Inc. (2018 and 2007)

Recent Speaking Engagements

• North Texas Probate Bench Bar, The (Un)Contested Guardianship (March 2020)

• Dallas Bar Association, Probate Section, Pretrial Motions in Guardianship Proceedings (February 2020)

• Lubbock County Office of Court Administration Annual Guardianship Symposium, 2019 Texas Estate and Trust Legislative Update and Judges' and Attorneys' Panel Discussion (October 2019)

• State Bar of Texas, 20th Annual Advanced Guardianship Law, The (Un)Contested Guardianship (April 2019)

• Tarrant County Southeast Republican Club, Top Ten Estate Planning & Probate Myths (November 2018)

• State Bar of Texas, Estate Planning & Probate Drafting, Drafting Guardianship Management Trusts: A New Look at Our Old Friend (October 2018)

• Tarrant County Probate Bar Association Litigation Seminar, (Un)Contested Guardianships (September 2018)

• State Bar of Texas, Advanced Estate Planning & Probate Seminar, Probate Matters: A View from Both Sides of the Bench (June 2018)

• State Bar of Texas, Estate Planning & Probate Drafting, Drafting Common and Uncommon Pleadings-A View from Both Sides of the Bench (October 2017)

• Tarrant County Probate Bar Association Nuts & Bolts, Realistic Solutions for Guardianship Issues (September 2017)

• Baylor Law School CLE, 40th Annual General Practice Institute, When Independent Administrations Aren’t So Independent (April 2017)

• Course Director, State Bar of Texas, Estate Planning & Probate Drafting Annual Courses (October 2016)

• State Bar of Texas, Opening (or Running) Your First GP Office; Estate Planning 101 (October 2016)

• Course Director, State Bar of Texas, Advanced Guardianship and Advanced Elder Law Annual Courses (April 2016)​

Publications

• In re: Estate of Jenkins, No. 2-05-164-CV, 2006 WL 1452669 (Fort Worth May 25, 2006)

• In re: Guardianship of Bays, 355 S.W.3d 715 (Tex. Civ. App.—Fort Worth 2011, no pet.)

• Extraordinary Remedies in Guardianships, 7 EST. PLAN. & COMMUNITY PROP. J. 159 (2015)