Estate Planning Blog
Dying without an estate plan drains an estate of huge sums of money that could have gone to heirs. Indeed, a lack of planning costs the estate plenty. There are fees for probate and if the estate is valuable enough, it must pay large sums of estate taxes. Plus, the settling of an estate through probate is long and drawn out. Fortunately, you can enjoy substantial savings and shorten that time by having a revocable living trust-centered estate plan.
Adult Protective Services is a great community service for elders. It is a county department dedicated to the safety and well-being of our elders. Financial elder abuse, in particular, is rampant in California. In this blog post I share some information about Adult Protective Services so that we can educate ourselves and our elders and hopefully decrease the number of victims.
Read MoreWhen was the last time you checked on the beneficiary designations on your life insurance policy? I have just read about a recent case in California where a father failed to change his life insurance beneficiary designations after his divorce. Now, after winning a court battle, his ex-wife will get the life insurance proceeds that he wanted sons to have.
Read MoreIn estate planning, the trustee, executor, and agent with power of attorney are all fiduciaries. Any of these jobs can be said to be very important and require the chose person to be trustworthy above all else. This article will explain what a fiduciary is and describe the responsibilities of each of these designations.
Read MoreThe QTIP Trust was formerly a very useful tax planning tool. Now that estate taxes are not an issue for the vast majority of Americans, you should understand the other benefits of a QTIP Trust because they can provide significant protection for your heirs.
Read MoreReal estate investment can provide you with an additional source of income, but you must not be a passive landlord. You will find that there are many traps for landlords and this article discusses a number of those traps. This list was inspired by real-life events (well, at least real to the people involved).
Read MoreFind out why only having a Will is going to cost your heirs and beneficiaries a sizeable chunk of their inheritance. Learn how attorney fees and executor commissions are calculated and what some of the other costs of probate are. Discover that a revocable living trust can save your heirs and beneficiaries money and allow them to get more of their inheritance faster.
Read MoreHere are just three terrible "shortcuts" to leaving your adult children an inheritance. Picking one of these “simple fixes” instead of developing an estate plan can cause bickering at best or at worst, or cause your children to start an all-out war against each other.
Read MoreIt has been 40 years since Prop. 13 was passed, many Californian homeowners are not familiar with it. This blog entry will provide you with some background on Prop. 13 plus explain some ways you can avoid having the value of your home reassessed (and prevent the likely increase in property taxes) when you have a change of ownership on your home.
Read MoreRobo-Will Makers and other website sites offering low-cost alternatives provide "one size fits all" solutions that can end up costing your heirs more than you would pay for making an estate plan with an attorney.
Read MoreIn California, there are two types of guardians – a guardian of the person and a guardian of the estate. Guardians of the person are appointed to take care of a child whose parents can no longer do so.
Read MoreA Will alone does not avoid probate because the probate court is required to oversee the transfer of property if you do not have a properly funded Trust. Some of the pitfalls of probate are discussed, including the possibility of multiple probates, and the actual cost of probate is detailed in this blog post.
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