Ford + Bergner LLP

Focus and practice areas

The firm handles estate, trust, probate and guardianship matters, and it has done that work since 1999. It covers estate planning, wills, trusts and probate administration on one side, and litigation and appeals arising from those same subjects on the other. Fiduciary services and guardianship round out the list. That is a narrow band of law, and Ford + Bergner stays inside it.

Within probate, the site names specific tools: alternatives to probate, small estate affidavits, determination of heirship, and muniment of title. On the planning side it lists powers of attorney, advance directives, revocable living trusts and testamentary trusts. The litigation work includes will contests, trust litigation, removal of executors and guardians, and mediation of estate and guardianship disputes. In my opinion that level of detail helps a reader match a problem to a service before the first call.

How the team is built

Ford + Bergner splits its attorneys into two groups. One handles uncontested matters: the filings and paperwork that move an estate through the courts without a contest. The other represents clients once a dispute has started. The structure keeps the litigation-ready lawyers close to the cases that turn adversarial.

Uncontested probate in Texas usually runs through a county or statutory probate court. An executor files the will, the court admits it, and the court issues letters testamentary so the executor can gather and distribute assets. When there is no will, heirs may ask the court to determine heirship. Guardianship follows a separate track, with a court deciding whether an adult or minor needs a guardian of the person, the estate, or both. Guardianship of an adult can follow illness or injury, and the court weighs less restrictive options before naming a guardian. In general terms, these are the procedures the uncontested group works within.

On the planning side

Estate planning at the firm covers wills, revocable living trusts, testamentary trusts, powers of attorney and advance directives. Those documents do different jobs. A will directs who receives property and names an executor. A revocable living trust can hold assets during life and pass them at death outside probate for the assets it holds. Powers of attorney and advance directives speak for a person who cannot act, one for financial decisions and one for medical ones. People often pair a will with powers of attorney so that one plan covers both death and incapacity. The firm's list includes both, which lets a client build the set in one place.

When matters turn contested

The litigation group takes on will contests, trust disputes, and the removal of executors and guardians. A will contest challenges whether a will is valid, on grounds such as capacity or undue influence, and it plays out in the probate court that would otherwise admit the will. A removal action asks a court to replace a fiduciary who has failed a duty. Mediation, which the firm also offers, gives the sides a chance to settle before trial. Don Ford's mediator training sits behind that option.

The firm also handles appeals from probate and trust rulings. An appeal reviews the trial court's application of law on the existing record, and it goes to a Texas court of appeals. Estate and guardianship cases can reach that stage when the stakes or the legal questions justify it.

Who leads the work

Don D. Ford III is the managing partner. He earned his J.D. from Baylor University School of Law in 1997 and became Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in 2010. In 2009 he completed mediator coursework at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law. In 2006 the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas appointed him to the Guardianship Certification Board, a 15-member body. Those credentials line up with the firm's stated focus.

The team lists several other attorneys. Marcus W. Waters is a partner who took a B.A. from Baylor in 1994 and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 1998; his work covers estate, trust and guardianship litigation alongside wills, trusts, probate, and business and contract matters. Douglas E. Clarke practices in estate planning, tax and probate, holds a B.A. from Washington and Lee (1970) and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center (1973), and previously was a partner at Andrews Kurth LLP. Theresa M. Frierson is board certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law, holds a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Texas, and focuses on wills, trusts, probate and estate planning.

Other named lawyers include David T. Foor and Hannah E. King, who both work in estate planning, probate, and estate and trust litigation, and Zachary A. Copp, whose matters run to LLC formation, corporate work, contracts and real estate. The site also lists Luis R. Castro, Nicholas M. Frame as a senior attorney, John M. Gregory, and Jeffrey M. Harris as counsel. Richard F. Bergner, one of the firm's names, is listed in memoriam. The roster mixes lawyers focused on planning and probate with those weighted toward litigation, which matches the two-group setup.

What the record shows

The firm's own numbers give some sense of scale. The site states it has served roughly 6,300 clients and written estate plans for more than 1,600 families. It reports work in 112 of Texas' 254 counties. Serving matters across that many counties means the firm has appeared well beyond its three home cities, since probate belongs in the county where the person lived. As a reviewer I read those numbers as the firm's own reporting. Taken that way, they still point to steady volume across a wide part of the state.

The footprint grew over time. Ford + Bergner opened in 1999, added a Dallas office in 2005, reached ten attorneys in 2015, and opened an Austin office in 2018. Today it works from Houston, Dallas and Austin.The three cities are among the major metro areas in Texas.