You Built It.
You Protected It.
Now Make Sure It Gets
Into the Right Hands.
You've spent years building your business. You've accumulated real estate. You've invested, saved, and planned for the future. But have you asked yourself, "What happens to everything I've built if I am not here to manage it?"
That's when Don Chaos shows up.
life lesson reminder from jmd
You didn't work this hard just to
leave your family a mess
Building wealth is one job. Protecting it is another. Passing it on is something else entirely.
Joseph Michael Dickerson wrote Passing It On because he has seen both sides of the story. He's sat across the table from families who had a plan—and families who didn't. He's seen what happens when everything is organized, coordinated, and clearly documented. And he's seen what happens when a family is left asking:
"Who runs the business?"
"What did Dad want?"
"Who gets the accounts?"
"Who gets the property?"
"Who gets control?"
"Why are we in court?"
are you a texas business owner with no plan?
Meet Don Chaos!
"Don Chaos" represents everything that can go wrong when your estate plan, business succession plan, and asset protection strategy aren't working together.
He doesn't care how successful you are.
Don Chaos doesn't show up when you're starting your business. He waits until you've spent 20, 30, or 40 years building it. He waits until you've accumulated businesses, real estate, investments, retirement accounts, and other assets. He waits until your family depends on what you've built.
And then... Chaos.
A spouse discovers that important accounts aren't accessible.
A business is suddenly stuck because no one can sign checks or access critical information.
Children disagree about what Mom or Dad wanted.
A blended family discovers that the estate plan doesn't accomplish what everyone thought it would.
Real estate gets tied up. Assets wind up in probate.
And the people you worked your whole life to protect are left trying to figure out what you intended.
That's Don Chaos.
Don Chaos comes to visit your family and business, in a time of grief and sorrow, when you don't have a coordinated plan.
The good news?
Don Chaos is preventable. You don't have to leave your family a mess to clean up. You can leave them a plan.
Don't leave your family a legacy of confusion.
Get My eBook for Free Today!
Inside Passing It On
The Legacy at Risk
What Happens If You Do Nothing
You'll explore: Why probate can become a burden even in Texas, What can happen when someone dies without a plan, How healthcare decisions can become complicated during incapacity
Why a durable financial power of attorney matters and how your family can be affected when no one has legal authority to step in.
The Bulletproof Method
Tools for Building a More Coordinated Plan. You'll learn about: The Four Keys to Bulletproofing Your Legacy, Revocable living trusts, How proper trust funding matters, The Three Bucket Method for Asset Protection, Separating business, real estate, and investment assets into appropriate structures.
Special Circumstances
Because Every Family and Business Is Different The book addresses:
Business owners and succession planning, operating and buy-sell agreements, blended families and second marriages, minor children
real estate and rental properties, legacy assets
Getting It Done
Turning Ideas Into an Actual Plan. You'll learn what to expect from an estate-planning consultation and what a trust-based plan can include.
Keeping It Bulletproof
Because an estate plan isn't something you put in a drawer and forget. You'll learn why plans need to be reviewed and updated—and what to consider when you move to another state.
You Are Ready
The final section turns knowledge into action. Because knowing what you should do and actually doing it are two very different things. And Don Chaos loves procrastination.
Ready to to access your free eBook?
business owners have a differnt kind of legacy problem
Your family may inherit your business. But that doesn't mean they know how to run it.
You've spent years learning your business. You know the customers. You know the vendors. You know the employees. You know where the money is. You know the passwords. You know what needs to happen when something goes wrong.
Does your spouse?
What happens if you don't show up to work tomorrow? Not because you're on vacation. Not because you're sick for a week. But because you're never coming back. Who can access the bank account? Who can process payroll? Who can sign contracts? Who can make business decisions? Who owns the company? Who runs it? And what happens to your spouse and children if the answers aren't clearly documented?
As Passing It On explains, business succession isn't just for Fortune 500 companies. It's for any business with customers, employees, contracts, assets, or ongoing obligations. Your business may be your family's largest asset. Make sure your estate plan knows what to do with it.
What Happens to Your Spouse if You're Not Here?
For many business owners, their spouse is their partner in life—but not necessarily their partner in every part of the business. That's where problems can arise. Your spouse may suddenly be expected to pick up the pieces and figure out what you intended, all while grieving.
That's not a legacy plan. That's an emergency.
Passing It On explores the legal tools and planning strategies that can help your spouse step into the role you've designed for them—rather than forcing them to figure it out after a crisis.
Give your spouse a roadmap. Not a scavenger hunt.
"We Have a Will. We're Good."
Maybe.
A will can be an important part of an estate plan. But a will doesn't automatically keep your estate out of probate. That's one of the misconceptions Passing It On tackles. The book explains the difference between a will and a revocable living trust—and why simply creating a trust isn't enough.
The trust has to be properly funded.
That can mean transferring or retitling appropriate assets, coordinating beneficiary designations, and making sure the pieces of the plan actually work together. Because a beautiful estate-planning binder sitting on a shelf isn't much help if the assets inside it never made it into the plan.
Documents matter. But coordination matters, too.
Don't worry, we can help!
How Many Times Has Don Chaos
Already Found You?
How many boxes can you honestly check? If you're not sure, that's exactly why this book was written.
"My spouse knows how to access our important financial accounts."
"Someone besides me knows how to keep my business operating.".
"My business has a documented succession plan."
"My LLC or corporation's governing documents are consistent with my estate plan."
"My real estate is properly titled."
"My trust is actually funded."
"My powers of attorney are current."
"My spouse and children know what I want to happen to the business."
"My beneficiary designations are coordinated with my plan."
MEET THE author & attorney
Joseph Michael Dickerson
Estate Planning & Probate Attorney. author. Business Owner.
Joseph Michael Dickerson is a Texas Board-Certified Estate Planning & Probate Attorney who has spent decades helping families and business owners protect what they've built. He is the author of:
~The Road Map to Rich: A Lawyer's Perspective on Getting and Staying Rich
~The Three Bucket Method for Asset Protection
~A Texan's Guide to the Probate Process
~The Three Bucket Method for Asset Protection for the Trucking Industry
And now: Passing It On: Ensure Your Legacy Gets in the Right Hands
His approach is straight forward:Build wealth. Protect it. Plan for what happens next. Because the ultimate measure of an estate plan isn't how impressive the documents look.
It's what happens when your family actually needs them.
This is the time to prepare
Don't Wait for Don Chaos to Introduce Himself!
He'll be there. Waiting for the day something happens. A death. An accident. An illness. A business crisis. A family disagreement. A question nobody knows how to answer.
But you don't have to let Don Chaos write the next chapter of your family's story.
You can write it yourself.
Read Passing It On. Talk to your spouse. Review what you've built. And make a plan. Don't leave your family a legacy of chaos.
Leave them a plan and your copy of JMD's eBook today!
Passing It On: Ensure Your Legacy Gets in the Right Hands.
"He will be my family attorney from now on"
"They get the job done, whatever that might be. The staff is very professional, yet down to earth. Mr. Dickerson, makes sure you understand what is in front of you. He will be my family attorney from now on."
- Jim H.
"They were absolutely amazing"
"Mr. Dickerson is very knowledgeable and steers in the right direction. Their process for revocable trust was very organized and makes it super simple. I highly recommend for wills and revocable trusts. I also had them create an LLC for our real estate investments and that process was great as well. Mr. Dickerson answered all of my questions I had and provided a clear picture of what I needed to do."
- Jason A.
"We highly recommend"
"We relocated from California to Texas but don’t own anything except for our retirement funds. We thought we needed to transfer our trust to Texas. But after discussing our situation with Mr. Dickerson he informed us we don’t need one as long as our beneficiaries are in order. Wow, he could have charged us a lot of money as other attorneys tried to do. Thank goodness we found him. It’s refreshing in the world today to deal with an honest attorney. We highly recommend using him. Amazing service."
- Barbara S.
THE TIME IS NOW, DON'T WAIT. GET JMD'S BOOK TODAY.
Passing It On: Ensure Your Legacy Gets in the Right Hands.