Frequently Asked Questions
Estate Planning, Medicaid, and Probate Questions — Answered
These are the 18 questions families in Alabama and Texas ask The Robinson Advocacy Group most often, answered directly and in plain English. Every answer reflects how the firm actually handles the work, including flat-fee pricing and virtual consultations in both states.
About the firm
Who the firm serves, where it practices, and how it is different.
What does an estate plan cost at The Robinson Advocacy Group?
The Robinson Advocacy Group uses flat-fee pricing, so you know the full cost before any work begins — starting with a $50 case assessment. Estate planning fees depend on whether you need a will-based plan, a revocable living trust, or an irrevocable trust, and the exact flat fee for your situation is quoted in writing during your assessment. Medicaid planning fees are published: an asset protection letter is $1,500, Qualified Income Trust packages start at $1,500, and full crisis implementation runs $10,000 to $15,000. There is no hourly billing and no surprise invoices.
Does The Robinson Advocacy Group serve clients outside Montgomery and Cedar Hill?
Yes — the firm serves clients statewide in both Alabama and Texas through virtual consultations. Attorney Gregory Robinson is licensed in Alabama and works with clients in Montgomery, Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, and the surrounding communities. Attorney Hector W.D. Faulk is licensed in Texas and works with clients across Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Consultations are held by video, and documents are reviewed and signed with the formalities each state requires.
What is included in the $50 case assessment, and is it a sales call?
The $50 case assessment is a focused 30-minute confidential consultation with an attorney that ends with a clear recommendation — an estate plan, Medicaid asset protection, a succession plan, or in some cases nothing at all. It is attorney-led, not a call center, and it includes a transparent discussion of the flat fee for whatever you decide to do next. You complete a short intake form beforehand so the time is spent on your actual situation instead of gathering basics.
Is my consultation confidential?
Yes — your consultation is confidential and protected, and the details you share are used only to advise you on your options. That includes the financial information in your intake form. Confidentiality applies whether or not you decide to hire the firm.
Can we meet virtually instead of in person?
Yes — virtual consultations are available statewide across Alabama and Texas, and every consultation the firm holds is by video or phone. Documents are handled digitally for review, with signing arranged in a way that meets each state's witnessing and notarization requirements. Clients in Montgomery and the Dallas–Fort Worth area can also arrange to meet at the firm's office locations.
How is The Robinson Advocacy Group different from other estate planning firms?
The firm combines estate planning with small business law and explains both in plain English, with flat fees quoted up front and a focus on building generational wealth for families who have historically been underserved by traditional firms. Attorney Gregory Robinson's background as an MBA, former Army officer, and strategy consultant shapes a practical, process-driven approach, and every plan includes the implementation work — trust funding and retitling — that determines whether a plan actually works. The firm is licensed in two states, serves both virtually, and publishes its Medicaid planning fees openly.
Estate planning: wills, trusts, and documents
What goes in a plan, and when a trust is worth it.
Do I need a will or a living trust?
A will directs who receives your property but still requires probate, while a revocable living trust can transfer assets to your family without court involvement. A will is often enough for a modest estate with simple assets and no real property in more than one state. A trust is usually the better fit if you own a home, own property in both Alabama and Texas, want privacy, want to plan for a child or beneficiary who needs protection, or want your family to avoid a probate process that can run six to eighteen months or longer. Most clients of the firm end up with a trust-centered plan plus a will, powers of attorney, and health care directives.
What documents are in a complete estate plan?
A complete estate plan normally includes a revocable living trust or will, a durable financial power of attorney, a health care power of attorney with an advance directive, and beneficiary designations that match the plan. The firm also handles the step most people skip: funding the trust, meaning retitling the home and accounts so the plan actually works when it is needed. Without funding, a trust document sits in a drawer and the family still ends up in probate.
How long does probate take, and can it be avoided?
Probate typically takes six to eighteen months or longer, and it can usually be avoided with a properly funded revocable living trust plus correct beneficiary designations. Length depends on the size of the estate, whether real property is involved, whether heirs agree, and how backed up the local court is. Families who inherit a probate matter often use it as the moment to put their own plan in place so their children never repeat the process.
Medicaid planning and long-term care
The five-year lookback, MAPTs, Qualified Income Trusts, and the house.
What is a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (MAPT)?
A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust is an irrevocable trust that moves assets such as a home or savings out of your countable estate so they are protected if you later need long-term care paid by Medicaid. Because Medicaid applies a five-year lookback to transfers, a MAPT works best when it is created well before care is needed — assets transferred inside the lookback window can trigger a penalty period of Medicaid ineligibility. A MAPT is a planning-ahead tool, not a crisis tool, and it is permanent by design, which is why it should only be set up with legal guidance.
What is the Medicaid five-year lookback rule?
When you apply for long-term care Medicaid, the agency reviews asset transfers made during the previous five years and can impose a penalty period of ineligibility for gifts or below-value transfers found in that window. This is why giving the house to a child "to protect it" often backfires. Planning done more than five years before care is needed generally sits outside the lookback entirely, while planning done during a health crisis has to rely on a narrower set of legal strategies.
Can I still protect assets if my parent is already in a nursing home?
Yes — crisis Medicaid planning can often protect a meaningful portion of assets even after someone has entered a care facility, though the options are narrower than planning ahead. Depending on the situation, strategies may include a Qualified Income Trust, protections for a healthy spouse's income and home, exempt transfers, and properly structured spend-down on permitted items. Because nursing home care in Alabama and Texas commonly runs $7,000 to $10,000 or more per month, every week of delay has a real cost. Crisis implementation at the firm runs $10,000 to $15,000 and starts with the $50 case assessment.
What is a Qualified Income Trust, and do I need one in Alabama or Texas?
A Qualified Income Trust — also called a Miller Trust — lets someone whose monthly income exceeds the Medicaid income cap still qualify for long-term care benefits by directing the excess income into a restricted trust account. Alabama and Texas both apply an income cap for long-term care Medicaid, so a QIT is frequently required when a person's Social Security and pension income is above the limit. The trust must be drafted correctly and administered every month to keep eligibility intact. The firm offers QIT packages at $1,500, $3,500, and $7,500 and up depending on how much ongoing administration and coordination you want handled for you.
Will Medicaid take my house?
Medicaid does not take your house while you are living in it, but after death a state can seek repayment from your estate through Medicaid estate recovery, and the home is often the largest asset exposed. Whether the home is protected depends on how it is titled, whether a spouse or dependent relative lives there, and whether it was moved into the right kind of trust in time. This is one of the most common reasons families in Alabama and Texas call the firm, and it is answered directly in the $50 case assessment.
Who should consider Medicaid planning now rather than later?
Adults 55 and older, anyone with a recent dementia or serious illness diagnosis in the family, spouses worried about protecting income and the home, and families with a loved one entering a care facility should look at Medicaid planning now. The five-year lookback means the value of planning drops as a health crisis gets closer. If a diagnosis has already happened, crisis planning is still worth doing — it is simply a different, narrower strategy.
Probate and dying without a will
Timelines, intestacy, and heirs' property.
What happens if someone dies without a will in Alabama or Texas?
If someone dies without a will, state intestacy law decides who inherits — not the family, and not what the person said they wanted. That can mean a spouse sharing an estate with children or parents, property splitting among multiple heirs, and in Alabama and Texas a house becoming heirs' property with many fractional owners who must all agree before it can be sold, refinanced, or repaired. Untangling heirs' property is far more expensive than the plan that would have prevented it, and it is a core focus of the firm's work with Black families and first-generation wealth builders.
Business formation and succession
Keeping a company running through retirement, incapacity, or death.
How does business succession planning work for a small business owner?
Business succession planning puts written rules in place for what happens to your ownership interest if you retire, become incapacitated, or die — so the business keeps operating and your family is not negotiating with a partner during a crisis. That usually means aligning your operating agreement or bylaws with your estate plan, deciding how the interest is valued and transferred, funding the transfer, and naming who has authority on day one. The firm also handles LLC, corporation, and nonprofit formation, contract review, and ongoing outside general counsel support.
Consultations, pricing, and next steps
What the $50 case assessment is, and what happens after you book.
What happens after I book an assessment?
After booking you receive confirmation with your appointment time and an intake link to complete before the meeting. The intake tells the attorney what you own, who is involved, and what worries you, so the consultation starts with substance. You then meet by video or phone, get a recommendation, and receive the flat fee for the recommended plan in writing. If you move forward, estate plans are generally drafted, reviewed, and signed within four to six weeks.
Still have a question?
Read the detail on estate planning or Medicaid planning, or call the firm directly at 334.440.6165 Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm CT.
Last reviewed September 2026 by Attorney Gregory Robinson. General information about Alabama and Texas law — not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by reading this page. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.