San Antonio Holiday Events - December 2009

With the wonders of the web, you can find so much to do over this holiday season - truly something for everyone, and lots of it with free admission!

1. There's a handy calendar tool at VisitSanAntonio.Com -- you plug in the dates, and it gives you back a list of events in the San Antonio area along with detailed information (location, if it's free, etc.). 

2.  Go to HistoricSanAntonio.Com and you'll find a list of events to choose from (including the beautiful Fiesta de las Luminarias). 

3.  About.com's San Antonio page has a nice list -- and some things appear there that might not be on some of the other sites. 

4.  SAEvents.Com is interesting because its home page asks you to pick your interests, and then the site takes you to things you might like -- art, sports, etc.

5.  Finally, the San Antonio Riverwalk has its own events calendar ready for your review online and it covers more than just the confines of the Riverwalk itself.  For example, you can learn about the Cowboy Christmas with Cowboy Santa over the weekend of December 19-20 at the Enchanted Springs Ranch. 

So, even if we didn't get any snow last Friday we remain so blessed to live in this remarkable, wonderful city of ours.  Get out there and find some fun with you and yours!!! Have a happy, happy holiday season!

Image of the Riverwalk at Christmas 2005 - Zereshk, Wikimedia Commons

Practitioner Support: ABA's Free, Online Resources

The Real Property, Probate & Trust section of the American Bar Association (soon to be known as the "Section of Real Estate, Trust & Estate Law") provides probate practitioners nationwide with a tremendous amount of free online support.

1. Magazine Articles by Recognized Experts

The section offers a topic index as well as a free read of many articles from its own bi-monthly magazine, Probate & Property.

For example, Texas' Professor Beyer, along with other contributors, offers up Keeping Current, and detailed practice-specific articles are found in every issue. In May/June, the second half of John Reddy and Marc Bekerman's article appears, "Essential Steps to Take After 'Finishing' the Estate Plan."

2. E-Reports on Current Practice Issues

Its periodic online RPPT E-Report also provides valuable information. One recent article that many might find helpful is "The Strongest Links -- Staying on Track with Track Changes," by Tom Mighell and Dennis Kennedy. If you don't know what "track changes" means, then you may want to read this article - because anyone using Microsoft Office word processing in the creation of legal documents is impacted by them.

3. Extensive Link List

The Section's website also maintains a link list - actually, three: one focused upon real property; another focused upon probate and trust law, and a third list containing more general information sources.

Links provided here include:

US Tax Code Online (searchable database)

Social Security Online (searchable database)

ABA's Tool Kit for Health Care Advance Planning