Losing a spouse can be a devastating experience regardless of your age or the circumstances. In fact, it can psychologically be one of the difficult experiences for a person to live through. While you may never truly be ready to lose a loved one, and in particular a spouse, appropriate planning well in advance of… Read More »
Blog Posts
What Do Courts Consider in Appointing a Personal Guardian for a Child?
The naming of a guardian for your minor child in California is one of the most important components of your overall estate plan and it is necessary that you think this through carefully and with the support of an estate planning professional to verify it’s the right choice for you. The best interests of the… Read More »
What You Need to Know About Succession Planning and Vacation Homes
Many use their vacation homes to connect with family. Of course that has been altered in light of the pandemic but it’s still important to have a plan in place for what will happen to your vacation home now and in the future. This is a unique asset that holds sentimental as well as actual… Read More »
Doesn’t My Collection Automatically Pass to My Heirs?
Whether it’s stamps, coins or artwork, you need to plan ahead for any collections that you own that you plan to pass on or have your heirs sell when you pass away. Collections are viewed under the law as personal property. This means that if you don’t have any other plans in place, your collection… Read More »
California Spouses & Liability for Debts
It’s known that for most spouses in California, you might be planning to leave a substantial portion of your assets or estate to your spouse. But what about the other end of the spectrum when it comes to debts or liabilities? Are spouses responsible? California is what’s known as a community property state. This might… Read More »
Have You Skipped a Letter of Intent in Your Estate Plan?
Along with a will, a trust and beneficiary designation forms, your durable power of attorney and your letter of intent documents can help to ensure that your wishes are followed properly. A letter of intent helps to clarify things for your beneficiary or your executor, making things easier for them in an otherwise challenging time…. Read More »
What Is A Qualified Personal Residence Trust?
Many different types of trusts exist for you to accomplish your estate planning goals. One of these is known as a qualified personal residence trust. This is a trust that allows you to transfer your primary or secondary home to a beneficiary in the future while benefitting from gift tax savings. Once the residence has… Read More »
How Does a Revocable Living Trust Get Settled?
A trust maker places his or her property into a revocable living trust so that probate for that property is not necessary when the trust maker passes away. Since a deceased person is not eligible to own property, probate otherwise becomes necessary to move assets that were in the decedent’s ownership and into the names… Read More »
What Is a Spendthrift Trust?
When you are concerned about preserving, protecting and passing wealth onto heirs, it’s natural to be concerned about the beneficiary’s ability to properly handle such an inheritance. This might lead you to turn to an estate planning lawyer to set up a spendthrift trust. This unique tool allows to keep a family’s money safe from… Read More »
Should You Use Up Your Lifetime Exemption Early?
If you suspect, like some do, that public policy will alter the limits on gift and estate taxes, then it is important to think about different strategies you can use to accomplish your estate planning goals. A consultation with a dedicated estate planning lawyer can help you to identify which of these strategies are most… Read More »
Does Your Estate Plan Include Your Pets?
You likely think of pets as members of your own family but does your estate planning strategy incorporate them too? The law considers pets to be property which means that you are not able to leave anything directly in your will for your pet. A couple of different options are available to you depending on… Read More »
Do Life Insurance Policies and Retirement Accounts Automatically Pass to My Loved Ones?
A will is used to direct the distribution of assets to those family members and other people in your family who are most important to you. But don’t overlook the other two common accounts that require separate planning through beneficiary designation forms. These include life insurance policies and retirement plan accounts. Without proper designation of… Read More »
Can I Complete Legacy Planning Without Life Insurance or a Single Premium Immediate Annuity?
What’s your legacy plan? How do you plan to support yourself in retirement but also pass on assets to loved ones or beneficiaries? There are lots of options available to help you with your plan and to give you the roadmap you need to move forward with your personalized legacy plan. When thinking about your… Read More »
Can I Lower My California Estate Tax?
It is a common question for many people just starting the asset protection planning or estate planning process in California: how can I decrease my estate tax responsibilities in California? There are many ways to lower your tax obligations while also protecting assets for your family members and heirs. Make sure that you have a… Read More »
What Are the Most Common Objectives for Long Term Care Planning?
Creating a will or an estate plan is not the same thing as planning for Medicaid or for long term care. This is because most basic estate plans fail to include considerations about wealth or family assets and your legacy and wealth can both be quickly decimated by the costs of long term care. Long… Read More »
When Is a Will Not the Right Choice for Passing on Your Assets?
Families today face increasingly complex dynamics, meaning that you might need to bring some of this complexity over into your conversations with your estate planning lawyer about the tools and strategies to use. Some of the most common factors affecting families with estate planning today include second and third marriages, children that happen outside of… Read More »
Can I Use a Trust to Reduce Estate Taxes?
In 2021, the federal estate tax exemption is $11.58 million. This means that the vast majority of American families won’t trigger this tax upon their death. However, state estate tax exemptions could still apply to depending on your primary state of residence. One of the most common reasons for people to explore the possibilities of… Read More »
Can Life Insurance Be Used to Fund a Trust?
A thorough estate plan requires that all of your property and assets are distributed according to your wishes after you pass away. Depending on your individual goals and intentions, there can be multiple ways to achieve these purposes. Many estate plans will include at a bare minimum a power of attorney and a will, but… Read More »
What Is an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust?
Do you have questions around the process of picking a trust to use for estate planning or asset protection planning purposes? Our Pasadena estate law group can help you discuss the options and arrive at a decision around the right tools for you. An installment sale to an intentionally defective grantor trust sounds like a… Read More »
How Have Business Owners Approached Retirement Planning in the Midst of a Pandemic?
Does your business have a succession plan? Is this documented somewhere in your office and is there a clear plan of when other team members will be trained into their new leadership roles? Many different business and economic challenges were presented due to Covid-19, but a new study has found that many small business owners… Read More »
