Lesley Wardwell Hempfling

After spending many years representing large companies in litigation matters, I decided to turn my focus to individuals, families and small to mid-sized businesses.  In 2011, I opened my firm in central Austin and began advising clients in the areas of estate planning/Wills, probate and business law matters.  

On the estate planning side, I help clients navigate through the sometimes emotional process of determining how they want their property to pass at their death, who will take care of their minor children in the event of their untimely death, appointing agents to act on their behalf during life in the event of incapacity and generational wealth planning.  I represent traditional families, blended families, single individuals and LGBT families.  Each of these groups have their own individual set of considerations that must be fully thought through before an adequate plan can be put in place.  

On the probate side, I assist clients in the entire probate process.  This includes advising Executors and Administrators before the application to probate the Will or determine who the heirs are is filed, preparing them for the hearing and handling the post-hearing matters.  I also assist clients in preparing the transfer documents that are necessary to effectuate their loved one's wishes.   I assist Executors and Administrators in handling debt issues and distributing the estate to the beneficiaries or heirs.  In the probate context, I also handle non-administration matters as well, including: small estate affidavits, affidavits of heirship, determinations of heirship without an administration, and probating will as a muniment of title.  Finally, I advise clients in the area of guardianship.

My business clients range from small start up companies to mid-sized companies. Typical matters include: advising on entity formation, drafting and advising on formation documents and implementation of the same, advising on implementation of probate matters as it relates to employees, review/drafting of contracts and other general business matters.