We have handled many pharmaceutical drug class action and personal injury lawsuits in probate court.  Recently we have represented many people pursuing settlements in the Actos liver medication lawsuits. We are not the class action or personal injury lawyer. We are the probate attorneys who help when the person who took the medication passed away. […]

I just learned of estimated gift and estate tax exemption for 2016. Again, this is just an estimate but comes from a reliable source. They project that the federal gift and estate tax exemption will be $5,450,000 ($5.45m) which is up from this year’s $5,430,000.  They project that the annual gift tax exclusion will remain at […]

“A good plan today is better than a great plan tomorrow” I am told that George Patton gets credit for this quote but it applies to estate planning as well.  Please get your estate plan done and then improve it later. No estate plan means no protection! I often meet with people who can’t decide […]

Ouch. Of course attorneys can make mistakes too but in this case it was the use of an online document service (unnamed to protect the guilty) that messed up. Decedent, we will call Betty, signed a will a few months before dying. Betty asked unnamed online document service to write the will to give all […]

The world of “digital assets” is growing by leaps and bounds each day. The issues they present are growing just as fast. That is, what happens to the money left in your Itunes account after death? Or what about your photos on Facebook… who gets to “own” them? The answers are NOT out there yet […]

I have always considered myself to be reasonable or a good sense of rough justice. A quick opinion of how things should end up. People have called me pragmatic many times during my 20 years as a lawyer. I will admit I didn’t know exactly what that meant the first couple of times I heard […]

I got notice a couple weeks ago of a new case to help get Heggstad petitions approved. That is, petitions brought under California probate code section 850. The case is: Ukkestad v. RBS Asset Finance Filed  March 16, 2015, Fourth District, Div. One Cite as C065630 Here is the summary I received: Settlor established a Trust which […]

As an estate planning attorney I help clients plan the legacy they will leave. Often it’s simple such as “I leave everything to my children….”  Other times it’s a gift to an old friend, a church, or other charitable organization.  I just read an interesting article, on ESPN.com, about the former University of North Carolina […]

I just saw this article at US News rating the best nursing homes in Sacramento. Good list to consider for your loved ones. Here’s the link.

I heard a great presentation recently by a CPA. He was talking about, what he calls, “reverse estate planning.” Say what? Well, we all know that the focus in estate planning has changed from estate taxes (death taxes) to capital gains tax (income taxes). This CPA had a great idea to improve people’s basis. As […]