Gerken Law, PLLC

"Chief Justice Roberts had the line of the morning when he said, ‘It's a new world, but it's the same Constitution.' That really does sum up why the government's policy-based arguments had no bearing on the constitutional question,” says Cato’s Thomas Berry, commenting on the birthright citizenship SCOTUS case.

Do first-graders have First Amendment rights? A federal court just gave a resounding yes.

Read more: https://reason.pub/4uDiFUW

Yesterday, I testified before the Finance Committee on the importance of my legislation, SB 100, which would exempt the first $100,000 from inheritance tax for family members.

ABA amicus brief addresses legal chaos that would result from elimination of birthright citizenship. https://bit.ly/4slonJc

Electronic signatures are legally valid in Texas, but validity is not the same as defensibility. Learn how practice choices manage risk beyond the statute. https://gerkenlaw.com/2026/03/12/electronic-signatures-in-texas-what-the-law-allows-and-what-practice-prefers/

Many people call a lawyer only after something has gone wrong. But, legal thinking can often be most effective earlier, when decisions are still flexible and sometimes less expensive to change. In some cases, early legal advice can even improve a plan, not just protect it. https://gerkenlaw.com/2026/03/10/why-is-legal-advice-expensive/

A recent question raised in a UK context asked whether someone would inherit from a terminally ill partner when the couple was not married, despite decades together and a child in common. Here is how that same situation would be treated under Texas law.

If It Happened in Texas: What an Unmarried Partner Would (and Would Not) Inherit How Texas law treats inheritance when long‑term partners are not married, including intestacy rules, informal marriage, and why planning matters.

Stay tuned for our Texas-based answer this Thursday…

Should I marry my partner to protect me financially? He is terminally ill and I’m worried my child and I won’t be able to stay in our home when he is gone

Legal guidance may be appropriate when decisions are hard or expensive to undo, such as how a business is formed, how people are classified and paid, how risk and data are handled, how ownership changes, how property is acquired or transferred, and how disputes are addressed.

When Does a Small Business Need a Lawyer? An overview of the inflection points where small businesses benefit from legal counsel, including formation, contracts, real estate, and disputes.