The Reeves Law Firm is the Decatur, Texas practice of attorneys Lori E. Reeves and Bonnie Sattawhite, who together serve families, landowners, and small business owners across Wise County. Lori, a graduate of Texas Wesleyan University School of Law and a licensed member of the State Bar of Texas, has focused her practice on family law for more than two decades. She built it on a straightforward premise: someone facing a divorce or a custody dispute deserves a lawyer who explains the law in plain English, answers the phone, and treats a hard season of life with respect. Bonnie handles the firm’s real estate, estate planning, and probate matters, and her work complements Lori’s at every stage, from preparing the real estate documents a divorce requires to helping clients update their estate plans once it is final. From their office on North Trinity Street, minutes from the Wise County Courthouse, the firm handles family law, mediation, estate planning, wills and trusts, probate, and real estate matters for clients throughout Wise, Jack, Montague, and Cooke counties.
“Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser — in fees, expenses, and waste of time."
Abraham Lincoln, Notes for a Law Lecture, 1850
Family law is the heart of the practice. Lori Reeves represents Wise County clients in divorce, child custody and conservatorship, child support, visitation, post-decree modifications, enforcement actions, protective orders, and adoption. She has appeared before the Wise County courts for over twenty years and knows how local judges and opposing counsel actually work, which often means a resolution reached without the cost and exposure of a contested trial. When a case does need to be tried, it gets tried.
Lori Reeves and Bonnie Sattawhite are both certified mediators, serving as neutral third parties who help people reach agreements outside the courtroom. Lori mediates family law and CPS cases. Bonnie is certified in those areas as well and also mediates probate and real estate disputes. Mediation is confidential, typically resolves in a single day, and costs a fraction of contested litigation. Texas courts commonly order mediation before trial, and having a mediator who understands both Texas law and Wise County practice keeps the process moving. Referrals from other attorneys are welcome.
Estate planning is how a Texas family avoids leaving a mess behind. Bonnie Sattawhite builds plans around what a client actually owns (a homestead, farmland, mineral interests, a family business, retirement accounts) using wills, powers of attorney, medical directives, HIPAA authorizations, and, where appropriate, trusts and transfer-on-death deeds. Plans are drafted for Texas law and reviewed as families change, including after a divorce, when an old will or beneficiary designation can do real damage. Most clients are surprised how affordable and quick a solid plan is.
A properly drafted Texas will names an executor, directs who receives what, and, critically, requests independent administration, which spares your family court supervision and expense. Bonnie Sattawhite drafts wills, revocable living trusts, testamentary trusts for minor children, special needs trusts, and pour-over documents. She also reviews out-of-state or do-it-yourself documents, which frequently fail under Texas law. Dying without a will hands your decisions to the intestacy statute instead.
When someone dies, the family still has to deal with the bank, the title company, and the courthouse. Bonnie Sattawhite guides Wise County executors and heirs through the probate process: probating a will, independent and dependent administration, muniment of title, small estate affidavits, heirship determinations for those who died without a will, and guardianships. Texas probate is often simpler and less expensive than families fear, and starting sooner keeps it that way.
Wise County property brings its own questions: fence lines, access easements, severed mineral interests, and oil and gas leases layered over decades of family ownership. Bonnie Sattawhite handles deed preparation, contracts for sale, title issues and curative work, boundary and easement disputes, landlord-tenant matters, and the transfer of farm, ranch, and residential property. She also prepares the deeds and related documents that Lori’s divorce clients need when a home or land changes hands. Having a local attorney read a lease or a title commitment before you sign costs far less than untangling it afterward.
“Whether studying, practicing, enforcing, making, judging, or teaching the law, I have generally enjoyed the activities I’ve done and the people I’ve met doing so. A life of service in the law is neither irksome nor tedious; it is ever-changing, providing daily opportunities for personal growth and satisfaction.”
– Judge Joe Spurlock II (January 29, 1938 – June 9, 2020)
*Judge Spurlock was a law professor to both Lori Reeves and Bonnie Sattawhite at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. His dedication to the law and to the State of Texas continues to inspire the work we do for our clients every day.
