Elder abuse remains a major problem in California estate planning. Relatives, caregivers, and other parties often exploit their relationship with someone who is ill or dying in order to obtain an inheritance from their estate. Such undue influence is against the law, and an interested party may ask a probate…
A revocable living trust is a useful estate planning tool when you want to make provisions for your family members beyond your death. A trust need not distribute all of its assets upon your death. You may instruct your trustee to retain the trust principal and distribute only the income…
Death does not automatically void any debts owed by the deceased. In the normal course of administering an estate, the personal representative named in the decedent’s last will and testament is responsible for paying any valid creditor claims presented. Indeed, once a person has died, a creditor may only enforce…
There are many legal events that may affect your estate planning. For example, if you get divorced, the terms of your property settlement may require you to alter the terms of your will or trust. It is therefore important to resolve any potential legal question about your estate plan prior…
Paying for end-of-life care and final medical expenses can be a major problem for many California residents. California does offer federal Medicaid benefits for poor and disabled residents through the state’s Medi-Cal program. But Medi-Cal has a catch: once a recipient dies, the state is legally obligated (under federal Medicaid…
An essential function of the personal representative of a probate estate is to identify and inventory the estate’s assets. Keep in mind, an estate’s assets at death may not be limited to property and funds in possession of the decedent at the time of death. If the decedent was a…
Marriage is not for everyone. Many couples are happy in long-term relationships that do not result in marriage or even a legally recognized domestic partnership. But if you are in such a relationship, you and your partner should consider the estate planning implications if one of you passes away. California…
For many of us the “paperless office” is a reality. Our personal and professional lives reside online through our laptops, smart phones, and cloud storage. But what does this mean for our estate planning? Recently, an article on CNBC.com discussed the growing popularity of “digital document archives,” which offer specialized…
When making a last will and testament, you may assume that the beneficiaries you name will outlive you. Of course, that is not always the case. So what happens, for example, if you leave your brother $10,000 in your will and he dies before you? The Anti-Lapse Statute Like many…
Estate planning can seem like an unnecessarily complicated process. But there are ways to simplify matters. After all, the whole point of estate planning is to facilitate the transfer of assets from the deceased person to the chosen beneficiaries—and this does not always require a will or formal trust document.…