Wills & Trusts

Do you know what to do when it comes time to put your estate in order? It's important that you have an experienced California estate planning lawyer on your side. They'll help guide you through the process and ensure that all of your wishes are met.
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Estate planning may include numerous documents to protect your assets and your loved ones. You may have a Last Will and Testament, but you may also have one or more trust agreements. Trusts are common estate planning documents.

There are many types of trusts you may choose from based on your needs. A Read more . . .

There are many options in estate planning. Deciding what path to take to secure a future for you and your family can feel overwhelming without help.

This is especially true when considering setting up a trust, and you may quickly find yourself wondering, “What trust is right for my family?”

Living in an especially litigious culture, Californians are increasingly concerned about asset vulnerability to legal judgments and creditors.

Many have been advised that placing assets in a trust protects their wealth. While in some contexts that is true, the general notion of forming a trust in California to shelter assets from creditors is a false pretense.

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No one wants to contemplate suffering a life-altering accident or illness. However, anyone can face incapacitation or an end-of-life situation. Forethought and advance planning will ensure that your wishes are fulfilled and the burden of life-ending decisions are not unduly placed on your loved ones.

A comprehensive estate plan should include advanced directives that account for incapacity and end of life care. Read more . . .

Revocable trusts have become an increasingly popular probate-avoidance tool among California residents. Under the umbrella of a revocable trust, assets are protected from passing through a lengthy and costly probate process. However, this only holds for assets retitled in the name of the trust.

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California has historically provided four options for the transfer of real property upon a property owner’s death:

1. joint tenancy agreements
2. community property with right of survivorship
3. wills
4. living trusts

However, in January 2016, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 139, allowing a fifth option for the non-probate transfer of property to a designated beneficiary, known as the Revocable Transfer on Death Deed.
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A will and a trust are both ways to protect your heirs and make sure that the people you want to inherit from you do so, but there are quite a few differences between wills and trusts. If you do not have either a valid will or trust when you die, you are intestate, and California law will decide who gets your assets after you die.

The only way to control what happens to your things after you pass on is to have a will or trust that meets our state’s requirements for validity. Read more . . .

California elder law attorneys are frequently asked, “Should I give gifts during my life or leave them in my will”? The answer, “It depends.”

If you have a modest estate and are relying on the bulk of it to live, gifting assets during your life might not be a good idea.
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A revocable living trust could be a better option for you than a will or an irrevocable living trust. Each of these estate planning documents has advantages and disadvantages. If you are thinking about creating or updating your estate plan, a Read more . . .

Although this situation could change at any time, California law does not currently (as of April 15, 2020), allow remote online notarization (RON) of documents. More than 20 other states allow RON, but California has not passed previously proposed attempts to allow RON. A Read more . . .