Team 1 — Hopper Mikeska

D’Ana H. Mikeska

D’Ana Mikeska is a founding member of Hopper Mikeska, PLLC. She specializes in probate and estate planning law, and she is board certified in these practice areas. D’Ana’s areas of practice include family wealth preservation, estate, gift, succession, and incapacity planning, estate and trust administration, marital property law, and guardianship. She has developed an expertise in crafting practical yet comprehensive solutions for both straightforward and complex individual and family situations using testamentary and lifetime vehicles such as wills, lifetime trusts, testamentary trusts, outright gifts, family limited partnerships, marital property agreements, intentionally defective grantor trusts, intra-family loans, family business entities, and powers of attorney. She frequently assists clients with gift, estate, and generation-skipping tax matters, as well as pre-marital and post-marital agreements.

Education
University of Texas at Austin (J.D. with honors, 1993)
Texas A&M University (B.S. magna cum laude, 1989)

Professional History
Member, Hopper Mikeska, PLLC, 2012 – Present
Partner, McGinnis, Lochridge & Kilgore, LLP, 2009 – 2012
Of Counsel, McGinnis, Lochridge & Kilgore, LLP, 2001 – 2008
Associate, Thompson & Knight, LLP, 1993 – 2001

Affiliations, Recognition, and Community Involvement
Board Certified, Estate Planning and Probate Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1999
Member, State Bar of Texas
Member, Estate Planning Council of Central Texas; Director 2001-2004
Member, Austin Bar Association Estate Planning and Probate Section; Director, 2004-2010; Chair, 2009-2010
Board Member, Goodwill Industries of Central Texas, 1995 – 2005; Exec. Committee 2003 – 2004
Texas Super Lawyers – Rising Stars, Estate Planning/Trusts (2004-2006)
Texas Super Lawyers – Estate Planning and Probate (2016-Present)
AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

Publications and Presentations
Co-Author, O’Connor’s Texas Probate Law Handbook, 2018 – Present

Co-Author and Speaker, Common Law Marriage, Civil Unions, Domestic Partnerships after Obergefell, State Bar of Texas Course on The Impact of Marriage Equality Law on Texas Law, December 1, 2015

Co-Author and Speaker, Conveyancing Techniques to Preserve Title Insurance in Real Estate Transactions, Advanced Real Estate Drafting Course, Houston, Texas (State Bar or Texas), March 2011

Co-Author and Speaker, Conveyancing Techniques to Preserve Title Insurance in Estate Planning Transactions, Wills and Probate Institute, Houston, Texas, February 2010

Co-Author and Speaker, Conveyancing Techniques to Preserve Title Insurance in Estate Planning and Probate Transactions, 32nd Annual Advanced Estate Planning and Probate Course, Dallas, Texas, (State Bar of Texas), June 2008

Author and Speaker, Managing Retirement Resources, Legal Affairs and Estate Planning, Texas Electric Cooperatives Annual Retirement Seminar, Austin, Georgetown and Tahoka, Texas (2005 – 2010)

Author and Speaker, The Uncertainty of Death and Taxes, The Financial Planning Association of Austin, Austin, Texas, October, 2005

Author and Speaker, Texas Probate, Beyond the Basics, National Business Institute, Austin, Texas, March 2004

Author and Speaker, Estate Planning and Probate for the Paralegal/Legal Assistant in Texas, Institute for Paralegal Education, Austin, Texas, November 2003

Author and Speaker, Acknowledgement and Substantiation Requirements for Contributions to Charitable Organizations, The Center for Non-Profit Management, Nonprofit Law Day, Dallas, Texas February 1998

Author and Speaker, Split Interest Trusts and Other Partial Interest Gifts to Charity, Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants, Dallas, Texas, January 1997

Co-Author, Privilege and Confidentiality Issues When a Lawyer Represents a Fiduciary, 30 Real Property, Probate and Trust Journal 543, December 1996