Steven Clausen is one of the most credentialed wealth preservation and estate planning attorneys in Texas. With over 35 years of experience advising high net worth families, family-owned businesses, and closely held enterprises, he brings a depth of technical sophistication to tax, estate, and succession planning that is genuinely rare outside the largest institutional firms — and that he now delivers with the direct partner access and personal service that Hopkins Centrich is built around.

His academic credentials reflect the same level of distinction. Steve earned his J.D. with high distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif — the law school honor society reserved for those who graduate in the top ten percent of their class. He holds a Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University, the gold standard credential in tax law. And he earned his MBA from Southern Methodist University, where he graduated first in his class and was elected to Beta Gamma Sigma. He is board-certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and holds an AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell — the highest peer recognition available in the legal profession.

Before joining Hopkins Centrich, Steve served in leadership roles at several of Texas's most respected firms, including as chairman of the Wealth Preservation Group at Butler & Binion, co-chairman of the Wealth Preservation Group at Winstead, Sechrest & Minick, and chairman of the Wealth Preservation and Probate Group at Caldwell East & Finlayson. He has also served as an adjunct professor in the graduate tax program at the University of Missouri Law School.

Steve's practice covers the full spectrum of tax and estate planning, business succession, asset protection, charitable planning, farm and ranch planning, and the formation and restructuring of business entities. His clients include family-owned businesses navigating generational transitions, high net worth individuals preserving and transferring wealth across generations, and executors and trustees managing complex estate and trust administrations.

What distinguishes Steve's practice is not just technical depth — it is the ability to integrate tax strategy, business planning, and estate planning into a single coherent approach. The death of a business owner should not force the sale of the business. A family limited partnership should not generate an unnecessary estate tax bill. A succession plan should address not just who inherits the business but how it continues to function, who leads it, and how family members who are not involved are treated equitably. Steve has spent 35 years thinking through exactly these problems for exactly these clients.

Representative Matters

Steve's representative work includes some of the most complex and high-value tax and estate matters handled in Texas:

Argued before the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Tax Court in support of an executor's position on a U.S. Estate Tax Return involving a substantial discount for a deceased co-owner's undivided half-interest in two large South Texas ranches — successfully reducing the estate's tax exposure.

Argued before the IRS and the U.S. Tax Court on behalf of an executor whose decedent had created and funded a family limited partnership containing in excess of $500 million in assets within one week of death — successfully supporting a substantial discount on the estate tax return.

Structured the corporate succession plan for an independent oil company valued at $25 million owned by adult children, addressing the identification of next-generation talent, equitable treatment of non-participating family members, adequate provision for the current generation, recapitalization, and revision of the buy-sell agreement and estate plans.

Counseled the representatives of a deceased principal owner of a privately owned company valued at $30 million, including valuation of the decedent's interest, analysis of fiduciary obligations to shareholders, review of control issues, and implementation of a Section 303 Redemption.

Counseled an oil and gas family on the structuring and formation of a limited partnership with over $500 million in assets, developing a comprehensive business succession plan, and using a private foundation as a limited partner to promote the family's philanthropic goals while minimizing the cost of transferring the business to the next generation.

Counseled a fiduciary in a reformation action involving whether modification of an irrevocable trust with over $400 million in assets would terminate its status as a grandfathered trust for federal generation-skipping transfer tax purposes.

Counseled the owner of a winery on a business succession plan and the disposition of $80 million in assets across multiple generations in a tax-efficient manner, including the creation of a dynasty trust in South Dakota.
Served as counsel to a family office in the formation and structuring of a private trust company owned by various trusts of two unrelated families, obtaining related private letter rulings and necessary reformations of several trusts.

Counseled closely held businesses and their owners on acquisitions, dispositions, and management equity incentives across a wide range of corporate and tax matters.

Education

• LL.M. in Taxation, New York University
• J.D. with high distinction, University of Iowa College of Law (Order of the Coif)
• M.B.A., Southern Methodist University (First in class; Beta Gamma Sigma)
• B.B.A., University of Iowa

Admissions

• State Bar of Texas
• Missouri Bar
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
• U.S. Tax Court

Board Certification

Estate Planning and Probate Law — Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Professional Memberships

• Attorneys for Family-Held Enterprises
• American Bar Association (Sections on Taxation, Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law, and Business)
• Texas Bar Association (Sections on Taxation, Probate and Trust Law, and Business)
• The Woodlands Bar Association
• San Antonio Estate Planning Council
• Estate Planning Council of Central Texas
• Society of Financial Service Professionals

Recognition

• AV Preeminent® Rated — Martindale-Hubbell (highest peer rating available)
• Named one of the Best San Antonio Lawyers of 2020 — Estate Planning & Trusts
• Former Adjunct Professor, Graduate Tax Program, University of Missouri Law School

Community Involvement

Steve has served on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations throughout Texas, including as chairman of the Planned Giving Council of Texas State University–San Marcos, chairman of Helping the Aging, Needy and Disabled, Inc. (HAND) in Austin, and as a board member of the Planned Giving Council of Texas A&M University. He has also served as a trust protector, trustee, and executor for various clients.