Blending Families, Blending Assets: How to Navigate Estate Planning and Asset Distribution in Modern Family Structures in California In the United States, the traditional family structure of a married couple with children living together is no longer the only prevalent model. Blended families, which may consist of a couple and their...
New Year's Resolution - Set Up Your Living Trust Are you looking for inspiration for a New Year's resolution for 2023? Consider establishing a living trust. We know estate planning is probably not at the top of anyone's resolution list, but a living trust can be a worthwhile investment for yourself...
We’re six months into this miserable disease and there’s little to feel good about. Yet stories emerge of truly heroic people who are manning soup kitchens, putting in 14-hour days in healthcare facilities and fueling supply chains to help save lives. Now independent groups have come together as “Frontline Foods”. An...
With the coronavirus has come a new urgency to create estate planning documents. Those who are scheduling appointments don’t fit a stereotype. There are seniors, of course, but also those thinking about retirement, single adults and young families who want to provide a safety net for their children. Many of the...
We talk a lot about Living Trusts as an important part of estate planning. What we don’t talk about is a Trust and your taxes. But if you’re creating a Trust, thinking about transferring property, or naming a Successor Trustee, taxes are an important consideration. This is about your, your...
California Document Preparers’ comprehensive Living Trust package includes a section for listing contact information for key service providers--your doctors, financial advisors, CPA, pharmacy, etc. We want you to be thinking about those people your spouse or children would need to contact in an emergency or if something happened to you. We...
When gay, lesbian, and other proponents of same-sex marriages celebrated the US Supreme Court‘s landmark ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, millions of Americans became eligible for dramatically different legal rights upon the death or disability of a life partner than were previously possible. These rights extend to estate planning. Gay...
It's never too early to plan for the future — even that part of the future that might not include you anymore. In order to make what could potentially be a very stressful time for your family easier, be sure to tie up all your loose ends when it comes...
A recent situation for one of our clients points out the importance of creating a Living Trust, funding it—transferring all of your assets into the Trust--and then letting your loved ones know its whereabouts! This story involves a blended family, which has implications for a lot of people these days....
We assist a lot of our clients with their Living Trusts. Many people don’t realize it’s not enough to create one—it has to be funded—and just as important—updated when there are important life events. One recent client was referred to us by her realtor—she is trying to sell her property,...
Husband and wife Paul and Sue have a sizable estate. At the same time, they are concerned that although they took the time to prepare a will, it will be subject to probate after they’re gone. Probate is the process of proving a will is valid. Once proven, the will guides an...
Many of us have seen the commercials touting the benefits of setting up a dynasty trust: “Let your fortune go on for generations to come, protect your kids from divorce, and protect your kids from creditors.” It sounds compelling, but what is a dynasty trust, and do you really need or even want...
