Hallett & Perrin, P.C.
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Catherine Bright Haws

Of Counsel
  • 214.922.4177
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Catherine Bright Haws

Of Counsel
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Catherine is board certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Catherine primarily represents high net worth individuals who need wills, trusts and incapacity documents to plan for the management and disposition of their estates, but who also have more complex planning needs or desires such as planning for optimal lifetime transfers of wealth (through fundamental or advanced gift planning strategies), planning for the transfer of wealth after death in a tax-efficient manner, and succession planning for closely held businesses. She also handles probate matters and judicial trust modification proceedings, prepares gift and estate tax returns, and advises clients regarding the administration of family partnerships and LLCs, private foundations, estates and trusts. Catherine has substantial experience with the following tax-oriented trusts, which can help clients achieve their estate planning goals:

  • Gift trusts for family members, including dynastic trusts, grantor trusts, beneficiary defective grantor trusts and spendthrift trusts
  • GRATs (grantor retained annuity trusts)
  • ILITs (insurance trusts)
  • QPRTs (residence trusts)
  • QTIP (marital) trusts and credit-shelter (bypass) trusts
  • QDOTs (qualifying trusts for non-citizen spouses)

Distinctions & Certifications

  • Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate law - Texas Board of Legal Specialization
  • ​Selected as a Texas Rising Star by Thomson Reuters, 2008

Professional Activities


Publications & Speeches

  • Former guest speaker on a local radio station program, “Law for the People”
  • A New Rule Against Perpetuities For Trusts in Texas - an explanation of the new Texas rule against perpetuities for trusts and an analysis of its constitutionality (REPTL Reporter - Volume 59, Issue 3, August 2021)
  • A New Rule Against Perpetuities For Trusts in Texas - an update to the above-mentioned paper which she co-presented with Eric Viehman at the 2021 Stanley M. Johanson Estate Planning Workshop in December 2021 in Austin, TX in a presentation entitled “Looking Far (And Not So Far) Ahead:Texas’s New Rule Against Perpetuities For Trusts.”
  • Avoid Post-Mortem Disputes – regarding how incapacity can undermine a client’s estate plan and how to lessen the risk that undue influence could cause an art collector to suddenly change his or her long-standing beneficiaries with estate planning that anticipates the potential incapacity (Trusts and Estates Journal, Spring 2020, published by Heritage Auctions).
  • To Trust or Not to Trust: That is the Question – regarding whether to use trusts to accomplish certain planning objectives (December 2019 issue of DBA Headnotes)
  • Disclaimer Updates & Planning - written and presented to the Collin County Bar Association’s estate planning section, 2016

Community Involvement