I often clean up other attorneys work after death.  I have one right now that is very typical of what I see.  Couple in their early 40′s find out the husband has terminal cancer so they immediately seek out an estate planning attorney to protect the wife and young child. The husband’s employer has some […]

Having been a trust and estates lawyer since 1994 I know everybody grieves differently. I should also say there is no “right” way to grieve. Some people go into a shell for a year, or two, or forever. Some people get super active and organized. I don’t know what’s “better” as I don’t think there […]

I am working on a case right now which reminds one of the importance of fully funding your trust. The decedent was owed money (i.e. a promissory note) but failed to transfer that to their trust. They died.  After death the people stopped making payments on the note. The family wants to foreclose but guess […]

So often people create wills and trusts without thinking about who is named beneficiary on their life insurance, IRA, 401ks, annuities, and other payable on death assets. It’s so very important for many reasons including: – You may have former spouses named; – You may have had more kids; – Companies lose the forms; – […]

There is a great article in the latest Forbes about whether a person should use their current $5.12m gifting exemption this year.  It is unknown if the law will lapse but it is currently written to lapse at year end. I think the Forbes article paints a balance picture that clients should consider.  Obviously you […]

Like most people I like to save money. I watch my money carefully. I hate to waste money. On the other hand I love when I hire someone to do a job and they do it well. I love to feel like I got my moneys worth!  Estate planning is like this. You can go […]

I met with a client recently who really shows an example of having some written estate planning in place is better than nothing. In this case it could be SUBSTANTIALLY better! Client is in a 2nd marriage, in her 70′s, no kids, but husband does have kids from a previous marriage. They have some assets […]

Dividing your personal property after death can be a chore. In some cases it’s the hardest thing even though the monetary value is not great.  Last week the father of one our neighbor’s died. My 9 year old son didn’t tell me this, though we later learned he knew, as he just told us his […]

How does one START the probate process in California?  I get asked questions like this a lot.  Probate is mysterious and mystical. It’s an unknown. It’s long. It’s expensive.  People say so much about probate but most people do not even know how it starts.  Today we are going to break down the starting point […]

I am going to probate Court today on an interesting case. It’s not something you see every day.  There is a conservatorship of the person but not the estate.  My lead conservatorship attorney, Jennifer Rouse, opted to skip the conservatorship of the estate to save on costs. The financial matters are mostly done through the […]