I was a guest lecturer last night at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. The class was on value investing. Lonnie Rush and Jacob Taylor are the teachers of the class. They asked me to talk to these 60 bright young minds about estate planning. Showing how smart they are one student asked me […]

I often see estate plans where clients have done 3 or 4 amendments. That is, amendment to trust # 1 from 2002, amendment #2 from 2005, etc….  Now at first blush I could say they  didn’t have a good estate planning attorney, at the outset, who created flexibility into their trust. That is possible. However, […]

I just read this interesting article on smartmoney.com about protecting your VIRTUAL assets after death. It really is something to think about. I see the practical side all the time when clients break into mom and dad’s accounts after death using passwords. They really shouldn’t do that of course! However, it goes well beyond that […]

I am an attorney and I get paid for my work. Yes, I admit it.  You are a client and you know that you will have to pay to hire a lawyer. We both know that. However, what you might not know is that there are options for payment. Yes there are some cases where […]

I find celebrity estates interesting because they often mess things up much worse than us mere mortals. However, it also is a good reminder that they are humans too! I wrote recently about Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys and his handwritten changes to his will.  Other celebrities have left similar, or worse, handwritten wills. […]

I had a case recently where a long lost child, or alleged child I should say, came out of the woodwork. The person, now an adult, claims to be the illegitimate child of a decedent in one of my probate cases.  It’s not my position to be believe or dis-believe her.  As I represent the Administrator of the estate […]

I came across an interesting article in Forbes the other day about Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys and a change he made to his will before death.  Of course back in ’86 the Beastie Boys hit it BIG with the album Licensed to Ill which remains one of my top 5 favorite albums of […]

We have talked before about the basics of a Heggstad petition. You have assets outside of a trust, after death, and want to get them into the trust without a full probate petition.  A Heggstad petition, pursuant to California probate code 850, is an incredible way to achieve this goal. The key with a Heggstad […]

If a probate case has been filed and you want to contest it and/or you have additional information to provide the Court you will often file a COMPETING PETITION.  For example what if the first petition shows there to be no will but you know you have a valid and original will!? That’s a great […]

Selling real property in probate can seem totally over-whelming. What does one do!? Where do you start?  OMG!  People have these feelings and then do nothing.  Today let’s break it down to five simple steps: 1) Select a qualified California probate lawyer.  Yes, I am one with excellent qualifications and I work throughout California. However, […]