As a California estate planning and probate attorney I see both sides.  I see the planning process and I see what happens, after death, when the planning wasn’t done right.  Here is a top 10 list of estate planning mistakes: 10. Name your estate the beneficiary on your IRA, 401k, and other retirement plans. This […]

The IRS released their gift and estate tax exemption numbers for 2015 a few months back. In case you missed it they are: GIFT TAX: It remains at $14,000 per donor per donee.  So a husband and wife can do a “split gift” and give $28,000 to any indivudual (family or otherwise). ESTATE and GIFT […]

My grandma is 98 years old…. or should I say 98 years YOUNG!?  She called last week to tell me about a great article in the LA Times.  It’s about dying on YOUR TERMS. In fact, the headline in the paper was “Dying on your Own Terms” and the headline online is “How to Help […]

Back in 2012 I posted a blog about talking to your parents about their estate plan. I called it “5 Questions to ask YOUR parents about their estate plan.”  I encourage you to read it before reading on…. The key here is that it’s a sensitive thing and, often, when dealing with your parents it […]

Probate can be a long and drawn out process. These days it’s eight months and often longer.  Many probates drag on for a year or more. So when you finish your parent’s probate what should you  be thinking? It seems to me that’s a great reminder that YOU need a living trust of your own! […]

I was reading the paper the other day and I saw an ad for a $499 trust. This blog post is not specifically saying that trust company is bad because I have no idea. That $499 trust may be the best trust of all time. However, seeing the ad reminded me that you really shouldn’t […]

The “A/B” trust is a very common set-up for married couples in the estate planning world.  I should say there are different names for these trusts. I call it an A/B Trust. Others may be call it a Bypass trust, a credit trust or even a 1/2 trust. Whatever you call it a split trust […]

I met with a client this week who proudly showed me her old will. It was a fine legal document. It left her assets to her husband and then her kids. It set up a guardian for the kids. It named an executor. It was a fine will. As she pointed out there was a […]

If you are making new year’s resolutions for 2014 does it include any of the following: 1) Get a living trust; or 2) Update our current estate plan; or 3) Add a life insurance trust (ILIT); or 4) Look into a qualified personal residence trust (QPRT); or 5) Have a qualified estate planning attorney review […]

The IRS has released their inflation adjusted numbers for 2014. The estate tax exclusion has gone up to $5.34m for 2014.  The annual gift exclusion remains at $14,000. Below is the text straight from the IRS website: 2014 Inflation Adjustments IR-2013-87, Oct. 31, 2013 WASHINGTON — For tax year 2014, the Internal Revenue Service announced […]