When you purchase property in San Diego County, you will have to specify how you are going to hold title. Title is the evidence that you are the owner. The form of ownership is called “vesting”. The escrow company will ask you how you want to hold title so the…
If you die with a will or intestate (without a will), the probate court has no discretion to withhold money from your legal heirs if they are 18. There are many 18 year olds who are not capable of managing significant amounts of money at that age. One way to…
Are you the Executor or the Successor Trustee of a will or trust in San Diego? Are you faced with the dilemma of how to divide up personal effects of the deceased? How to divide personal property (furniture, collectibles, jewelry, cars) upon someone’s death can be a harder problem than…
Do San Diegans fit the national statistics on Estate Planning? Alhough there are no statistics specifically for San Diego County, a study done nationally in 2007 found that over half (55% ) of all adult Americans do not have a will or other estate plan. Of non-whites, the lack of…
After your revocable living trust is prepared, there often arises the need to amend your trust. It could be that you want to change your successor trustee, change beneficiaries, or that new changes in the tax laws require some new or revised provisions. Some people think they can cross out…
You don’t have to be rich to need a trust. If you own your home in San Diego where the cost of the average home is high, you need a trust to avoid probate. Even without a home, if you have total assets over $100,000 you need a trust to…
Do you have a piece of property in San Diego County that you want someone to reside in as long as they live and then pass the property to someone else? A life estate is typically an ownership interest where the owner of real property gives a “life estate” to…
San Diego County is home to many members of the military stationed at Camp Pendleton, MCRD, MCAS Miramar, and the various Navy facilities such as 32nd Street Naval Station, Navy Submarine Support Facilities and Naval Base Coronado. When a member of the military gets orders to deploy out of the…
Many San Diegans have timeshare properties out of state in Hawaii, Colorado, and Florida as well as right here in San Diego in the beachfront communities of Coronado, La Jolla, Mission Beach, Carlsbad, and Oceanside. If you plan to leave your timeshare properties to your heirs you need to understand…
There are many reasons why people delay creating an estate plan. One of the primary reasons is that it just doesn’t rise to the top of their “To Do” list. It is something they know they should do but they think they have plenty of time to do it. How…