I know for several years there has been a National Estate Planning Awareness Week every year in October. Now, I am not sure how many people have been aware of this and very likely the only people aware of this already have an estate plan in place. However, anything we can do to get the word out the better. It took me a second but I did find the 2019 week is scheduled for October 21-27, 2019. Here’s a link to information about it. As you can see it is put on by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils.

So now that you are aware the question is what should you be aware of? I am a 100% California probate attorney and the simplest thing I can tell you is that people who do have not living trusts, in California, cost their families thousands of dollars after death. It’s really that simple. However, we could go further and I could tell you stories about people that create tax nightmares for their families due to the lack of planning.

So, GET YOUR ESTATE PLAN IN PLACE NOW! You are aware so you have no excuses! Get it done!

-John