Title: Member
Kristen’s practice is focused primarily on estate planning and probate.
Kristen’s estate planning practice includes advising clients with
regard to federal and state taxes, general business matters, and the formulation
of an estate plan specifically tailored for each client’s unique
situation (the transfer of wealth to lower generations, planning for blended
families, asset preservation, etc.). Such practice includes the preparation
of wills, financial powers of attorney, medical powers of attorney, family
limited partnerships, grantor trusts, revocable trusts, special needs
trusts, charitable remainder trusts, general business documents, gift
tax returns and much more. Kristen’s practice also includes advising
trustees of trusts with respect to trustee duties, trust funding, trust
administration and other various trust matters.
Kristen also helps clients determine what to do after the death of a loved
one, from advising clients through the process of probating a decedent’s
will, to wrapping up the decedent’s affairs and transferring the
decedent’s assets. Kristen’s probate practice includes handling
large estates, various complex probate matters, preparing estate tax returns
and dealing with less than ideal family situations. Kristen also represents
beneficiaries of estates and trusts.
Kristen also practices in construction law. Prior to attending law school
Kristen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Science from
Texas A&M University. She then worked for Jacobs Engineering Group
Inc. in the industrial construction industry as a Project Engineer and
later as a Project Controls Manager, overseeing various aspects of cost
reporting, worker productivity, estimating, scheduling and document control systems.
Areas of Practice
Bar Admissions
Admitted to Bar, Texas, 2010
U.S. District Court Western District of Texas
Education
Baylor University School of Law, Waco, Texas
J.D. – 2010
Concentration: Estate Planning
Honors/Awards: cum laude
Bank of America Estate Planning and Trusts Award
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
B.S. – 2006
Major: Construction Science
Honors/Awards: cum laude
Professional Associations and Memberships
- State Bar of Texas
- Board Certified Estate Planning and Probate Law
- Heart of Texas Estate Planning Council, Board Member
- Junior League of Waco, Board Member
- Capacity Building Advisory Council, Waco Foundation
- Waco-McLennan County Bar Association
- Waco-McLennan County Young Lawyers’ Association
Honors & Awards
- Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star, Thomson Reuters Legal, 2018-2021
Classes/Seminars
- “Charitable Contribution Substantiation: Preparing for IRS Challenges?”
- “Probate Administration and Other Procedures”
- “Adjunct Professor, Baylor Law School”
Published Works
Marcus J. Brooks & Kristen A. Mynar, Charitable Contributions &
Charitable Contribution Deductions: Not Created Equal, Today’s CPA,
March/April 2013, at 30.