If your mother wants to save money, she can prepare her own will using one of the new free Texas will forms.

Q: My mom is 81 and a Texas resident. She needs a will. What is the best and most cost-effective way to do a will? Should she hire an attorney? If so, how does she tell the difference between someone who will look out for her interests and someone who can't be trusted? Should the attorney be one who specializes in estates? She has a home, car, checking account, two IRAs and various savings accounts. She has children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A: The best way may not be the most cost-effective way.

In my opinion, your mother should hire an attorney who specializes in estate planning to prepare her will. She can find an attorney who is board certified in estate planning at www.tbls.org. This type of attorney can almost certainly be trusted to treat her fairly and do good work. Granted, this attorney may not be inexpensive, but she will likely get what she pays for.

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If your mother wants to save money, she can prepare her own will using one of the new free will forms that have been made available to Texas residents by the Texas Supreme Court. She can find these forms at www.texaslawhelp.com.

Q: How much effort must an executor exert to locate the primary beneficiaries in a will before deciding that the secondary beneficiaries are eligible to inherit? Are death certificates always required first? Is the necessary level of proof controlled by state laws or by the policies of the financial institutions? What steps would an executor take?

A: An executor must exercise "reasonable diligence" in locating beneficiaries of an estate and notifying them of the probate.

Most of the time, it takes very little effort to locate beneficiaries. If a beneficiary can't be determined simply by talking to friends and family, the executor can do an internet search, or, if that produces no results, hire a company to conduct the search.

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It is hard to imagine a case where it would be impossible to determine where a person is living or whether or not that person has died. But it does happen from time to time.

In Texas, in the vast majority of probates, the executor operates without any court supervision. In other words, most executors work without any oversight to figure out who inherits property. Most of the time, the executor will know that a person has died, and no proof will be required. But exactly how much proof is needed would depend on the facts and circumstances of the case.

The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law, not legal advice. Ronald Lipman of the Houston law firm Lipman & Associates is board-certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Email questions to: stateyourcase@lipmanpc.com.