This has little to do with California estate planning, trust law or probate. However, I just spent 15 minutes on a live chat with the Comcast “customer service” people dealing with a really trivial issue. The person was not trying to solve my problem but rather putting up blockades.  Though we are a law firm […]

Getting divorced (but not merely separated) automatically changes your will. It does NOT revoke your will in it’s entirety though. It just takes out your ex-spouse. However, what if your ex-spouse’s kids are the back up beneficiaries… then what?  Yes, they would take under your will.  The bottom line is you should review your estate […]

Business buy-sell agreements are a part of my world as an estate planning attorney. This is because these agreements are typically used for closely held businesses; often the biggest asset my clients have.  Thus, my job as a California estate planning attorney, requires me to be familiar with the nuances of business buy-sell agreements and the California […]

I recently spoke to a client who had an interesting situation. Their father died with very few assets. Maybe the total was $5,000. One of the assets was a timeshare with no value but ongoing maintenance fees. Nobody in the family wanted the timeshare and they didn’t know what to do. I told them roughly […]

I did not realize that the third week in October is NATIONAL ESTATE PLANNING WEEK, did you!?  This is not just a Hallmark “holiday” either. This is endorsed by the US Congress so it’s legit!  In 2008 the US Congress passed Resolution 1499 to make this official week.  I guess this means you should get […]

Anybody that follows estate taxes and estate planning knows the new law, created in December of 2010, had some groundbreaking provisions regarding estate taxes. Most notably was the estate tax portability.  Recently the IRS published some guidance for this interesting new law.  In the groundbreaking  Notice 2011-82; 2011-42 IRB 1 (published 9/28/11), the IRS published guidance […]

California trust administration (typically after death) is more involved than a lot of people realize. Yes, a properly funded California living trust avoids probate. That’s totally true. However, many trusts are not properly funded before death.  Moreover, even for trusts that are properly funded before death there are a number of issues that the trustee […]

Generally simple wills are used only in the movies.  The family gathers around the lawyer’s conference room table and the lawyer “reads” the will, right!?  We have all seen it. The only un-true thing that happens more in movies, relating to someone dying, is they have a video of the person who died (as in the movie […]

What documents should your California living trust package have?  A lot of clients think a trust is the only document. However, it’s not. Far from it!  There are a number of documents that a properly prepared California revocable “living” trust package should have. Here is a brief summary of each: California Revocable Living Trust – […]

A difficult situation that often falls between the cracks is how do you get into the safe deposit box after death. Here are my notes from my 2010 NBI seminar I gave on the probate process. Additionally, below that are the two most relevant code sections on safe deposit boxes.  Contact me with questions.  -John […]