Over the course of recent history, plenty of people have avoided estate planning because they assume they don’t need it. With social media, email and bank accounts, and other digital assets like photos, it has become more important to tether any of your online assets to you. As life gets more complicated and you add… Read More »
Blog Posts Page 4
Do I Need to Plan to Change Plans?
Is Pasadena estate planning on your adult to-do list? Bear in mind that this is not a once-and-done planning opportunity. Life changes and your estate planning strategies and documents have to be adjusted over time. Whenever your circumstances change, or whenever the law has been adjusted, you need to sit down and reassess your current… Read More »
Sibling Rivalry Family Dynamics in Estate Planning
One of the biggest challenges in creating an estate plan is coping with issues due to sibling rivalries. If siblings have been in the midst of constant drama with one another their entire life, this can lead to the parents putting off estate planning altogether. When it comes to distribution of assets, a trust is… Read More »
Why Is Prince’s Estate Still Unsettled?
Are you interested in avoiding mistakes celebrities make in estate planning? The news is always full of stories of famous people who seemingly had it all- until that “all” wasn’t planned for properly. This leaves loved ones behind scrambling to figure out all the details after the famous person passes away. Three years after his… Read More »
What Are the Basics of Setting Up A Trust Fund?
If you are thinking about establishing a trust fund for your loved ones to be able to receive benefits during your life or after you pass away, understanding these basics and following through by appropriately funding the trust fund is important. Although trust funds were previously associated with high net worth people as method to… Read More »
Have You Planned Only to Avoid Taxes in Your Pasadena Estate?
When it comes to the possibility of making mistakes in Pasadena estate planning, the concerns run rampant in the estate planning attorney community. Many lawyers, especially those who focus on probate, see the falling out that occurs when a person doesn’t follow through with appropriate estate planning. This leaves family members, personal representatives, and even… Read More »
One-Quarter of Americans Would Not Pass A Financial Literacy Test
When is the last time you sat down and looked over your financial situation or even consulted with your financial planner or attorney about it? Research shows that many Americans don’t understand the basics of financial literacy and now there are plenty of studies to back it up. Retirement income literacy is one of the… Read More »
How Do I Know Whether I Want A Revocable or An Irrevocable Trust?
One of the most common questions presented to Pasadena estate planning attorneys is what’s the primary difference between irrevocable and revocable trust. A living trust is a legal entity that can own assets, such as investment accounts, bank accounts, and real estate. There are many different types of trusts available to people engaging in estate… Read More »
Choosing the Right Person to Hold Your Power of Attorney in Pasadena
It can be a nightmare situation if you find out too late that you’ve signed over your power of attorney to someone in your family or someone you believe to be a trusted friend and then discover that all of your savings from the course of your lifetime have been drained from your account. A… Read More »
Seven Things to Avoid When Planning for Retirement
Planning for retirement is not just about looking into getting on top of your debt but also for planning ahead to enjoy the later years of your life as much as possible. Unfortunately, seven deadly sins can plague people in their retirement years and force them to suffer more than what they would have expected…. Read More »
Even Today’s Top Earners Might Not Be Fully Prepared for Retirement
Most people have retirement at least in the back of their minds but plenty of people haven’t taken the necessary steps and followed through to be on track to save ahead for everything they’ll need in their golden years, including how to pay for healthcare expenses. Income only goes a certain part of the way… Read More »
Are Your Company Benefit Plan Designations Up to Date?
Filling out your company benefit forms might have seemed important at the moment you did it and passed back over to human resources, but what if something were to happen to you. Does this document still reflect your individual wishes? You probably took a guess during the enrollment process about how many exemptions to claim… Read More »
Weighing the Cost of Potential Need for Long Term Care Insurance
The very thought of paying for long term care makes plenty of people who are already nervous about the process of planning for their estate even more nervous. This means that is important to sit down with an experienced and knowledgeable estate planning lawyer who can walk you through the process of weighing the needs… Read More »
What Assets Usually Pass Under A Will?
When it comes to serving as an executor, one of the most important and yet difficult tasks for an executor is to identify all of the decedent’s property by type of ownership. This begins by locating, then valuing, and then organizing this property by the various ways that it is owned. This can require comprehensive… Read More »
Do Trustees and Executors Need to Be Familiar with Digital Assets and Accounts?
More research has shown that people have higher numbers of online accounts than ever before. This can present unique challenges in the estate planning process. This is largely because many people forget to include their digital assets in their overall estate planning. Digital assets and accounts are a relatively new category of assets that both… Read More »
Can I Use A Trust as A Designated Beneficiary of My IRA?
Improper planning could put your intended beneficiaries in a difficult situation with your IRA. A significant tax consequence might apply if you don’t sit down with an estate planning lawyer and talk over the options available to you that help you to accomplish your goals while minimizing tax consequences for your beneficiary. If you intend… Read More »
Why It’s Important to Pay Attention to The Details in Succession Planning
If you own a family business, managerial succession and the transfer of that ownership can become quite problematic when they’re not planned out appropriately. If you are a parent who owns and manages the business, there are probably other people who have a vested interest in that company of having an unchanged or uninterrupted operation… Read More »
Do I Really Need A Team of Experts If I Inherit or Win A Large Sum of Money?
If you receive a substantial jackpot through a lottery which will be part of the massive transfer of wealth from baby boomers to future generations in the coming decades, one of the most important things you can do is equip yourself with a team of experts. These situations are not as simple as cashing your… Read More »
What Happens to a Revocable Trust at the Grantor’s Death?
Each family and individual have their own concerns about the estate planning process, but many of these issues can be addressed by putting together appropriate trust provisions and funding the trusts with necessary assets. A revocable trust is but one of many tools available to craft a comprehensive estate plan, and there are many different… Read More »
Married Couples with Larger Estates Benefit from The Increased Federal Estate and Gift Tax Exemption
Married couples with substantial estates have plenty of things to be happy about with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The new law clarified that the federal estate and gift tax exemption at $11.4 million for 2019; meaning that annual inflation adjustments will also apply between 2020 and 2025. For married couples that amount is… Read More »