Case Study by Barbara Theobald, Walnut Creek Office Last year a single mother of twins, an 8-year old boy and a girl, came into our office for some assistance that turned into Probate and ultimately, home ownership and a happy ending! Her mother died, leaving a condo and a pile of debts The...
More than 50% of Americans die without creating a Living Trust that details how they will distribute their estates. The reasons for not creating a Trust are endless, but they're really just excuses. Below are some high-profile examples of very typical excuses for not creating or updating Living Trusts. Regardless...
A brother and sister came to our Oakland office the second week of December, asking us if we did Probate, and we assured them that we did. Theirs was an especially sad story. Their mother had died when they were young, and their father had raised them single-handedly, including putting...
A longtime client called us recently to see if we do Probate, which we do. His father has just been killed in a freak boating accident, and despite the urging of his three children over the years, he’d started—but never completed--a Living Trust. He’d laughed it off, believing that there...
We admit it--we're relentless when it comes to the subject of Living Trusts. By creating and documenting exactly how your estate will be distributed, you will spare your heirs time, money and a lot of agony. Nevertheless, many people never quite get around to doing this, and they die without a...
Probate, as we tell our clients, is easy to avoid by creating a Living Trust, making sure that it’s properly funded with your assets and updated with significant investments and life events. When you die without a Trust, your estate falls into court-appointed Probate, and it’s always a costly, lengthy...
We recently met with a brother and sister who needed help with a Probate. Their mother had died and left a very sweet handwritten will leaving her entire estate to them. An aunt, their mother’s sister, accompanied them to our meeting to confirm that the will reflected her sister’s wishes. Like...
If you ever have to go into probate it is hard enough carrying out the duties of your loved ones, but also having to worry about court and attorney fees can become overwhelming. Attorneys fees, which are set by statute, can gobble up a huge portion of an estate, because...
Probate is when the court supervises the processes that transfer legal title of property from the estate of the person who has died (the "decedent") to his or her beneficiaries. Usually, you have to fill out court forms and appear in court to: Prove to the Court that the Will is...
