Can it be done?  Can property be held in trust AND in joint tenancy?  Your lawyer told you it can’t be done, right?  Tell them to review California Civil Code section 683(a). 683. (a) A joint interest is one owned by two or more persons in equal shares, by a title created by a single […]

INTRODUCTION Protecting your digital assets isn’t talk about by most attorneys. However, it should be!  In some cases your digital assets are of extreme value; either monetarily or for sentimental reasons. Make sure your estate planning attorney discusses this with you! THE PROBLEM The most common problems with digital assets is ACCESS. You are alive […]

INTRODUCTION Each year the Financial Awareness Foundation promotes National Estate Planning Awareness Week.  The Financial Awareness Foundation is currently under organization to become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. From their website, “it was established to significantly improve financial awareness and financial literacy. The Foundation’s vision as an educational public benefit corporation is to teach, promote, motivate, and […]

Approval, confirmation and affirmation!  We all like these things, right?  For years I have encouraged clients to get “bank” or “special” powers of attorney for assets that are not a part of their trust. This includes Calpers which has benefits not a part of the living trust. I recently received notice from a large law […]

How would you feel if your evil ex-husband or witch of an ex-wife received your life insurance after you die?  Talk about rolling over in your grave!? Upon filing for divorce, in California, there are automatic restraining orders. Among them, you are not allowed to make changes to non-probate transfers without the consent of your […]

Estate planning and, in particular, estate taxes remain a moving target. Here’s a recent article from the New York Times highlighting this problem.  I encourage you to check it out here. – John Palley

I have had a couple of instances in the last few days where we have a new client where a house call will be in order.  The client, or their spouse or child, ask “why.”  They don’t want to spend the extra money for an attorney to go to their house. Let me explain the […]

If President Obama’s 2014 budget is any prediction of the future the 2013 “permanent” estate tax law changes are not very permanent. Or, put another way, only politicians would call them permanent!  I have read, in recent days, that President Obama is proposing going back to 2013 estate tax levels. That would mean a $3.5m […]

It’s been said many times that an estate plan is just that… a PLAN. Yes, it’s a group of form derived documents but, as I always say, it’s knowing WHICH FORMS to use. However, it’s more than that.  One of the fundamental keys to an estate plan is for the client to understand how the […]

I have been on vacation for the last two weeks. I thought about blogging almost every day but I never did it. However, I feel re-charged, re-energized and ready to WORK! I am ready to blog and ready to roll! I read an interesting article last week. It suggested that the average person spends more […]