Thomas J. Houser

Thomas J. Houser is a Shareholder of Dentons Davis Brown and co-chairs the firm's Trusts & Estates department. His practice focuses on Wills and Trusts, including estate planning, business and succession planning, and estate administration and trust estates.

Tom crafts comprehensive estate plans that accomplish a client's personal objectives in a tax-efficient manner. He advises clients on alternatives for outright distribution of wealth to the next generation, transfer techniques for family businesses, tools that leverage the federal transfer tax system, and asset protection matters. He also handles complex estate and trust administration, counsels business owners on formation, termination, acquisitions and sale agreements, and represents clients in will contest actions and breach of trustee duties.

His experience includes advising business owners, executives, physicians and farmers on estate plans, succession plans and asset protection; advising on wealth transfer techniques such as family limited partnerships, GRATs, IDGTs, CRTs and CLTs; and counseling hundreds of farmers on the transfer of their farming operations to on-farm and off-farm heirs.

Tom is a third-generation lawyer and holds a JD from the University of Iowa and a BA in Finance from the University of St. Thomas. He has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America since 2007 and was named its 2027 and 2025 Trusts and Estates "Lawyer of the Year" in the Des Moines metro. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trusts & Estates Counsel.