When you are thinking about the trajectory of your financial situation as you enter your senior years, you can start to get a feel for the nature of your legacy. It is wise to see the complete picture so that you can take the right steps to provide for your loved ones in the optimal manner.People typically take retirement planning seriously, in anticipation of the golden years that will be full of travel, leisure time, and bucket list erasures. Unfortunately, many of the same individuals do … [Read more...] about Medi-Cal Can Preserve Your Legacy
BLOG
Estate Planning for the LGBT Community
Our firm is very sensitive to the needs of the large LGBT community that helps to make our area a fantastic to live. We should emphasize the fact that estate planning is important for all responsible adults, but it has been especially vital for people that were in committed same-sex relationships.When you are legally married in the eyes of the law, you and your spouse have certain inherent legal rights. Since same-sex marriages were not recognized, a large segment of our population could not … [Read more...] about Estate Planning for the LGBT Community
How Is a Trust Administered?
Before we answer the question that serves as the title of this blog post, we should explain some things about trusts in general and why you may want to use one. A lot of people assume that a last will is the estate planning document that should be utilized if you are not a multimillionaire. In reality, this is a commonly held misconception.It can seem as though a last will is a very simple document that would facilitate efficient transfers to the heirs, but this is not the case. With regard … [Read more...] about How Is a Trust Administered?
Estate Planning for Small Business Partners
If you are a partner in a small business, when you start to think about your legacy, the situation can be challenging on the surface. The best way to explain is through the utilization of a simple example.Let’s assume that you own a very successful restaurant with one partner. You and your partner own the building and the equipment, and it is perfectly situated in an important, well trafficked part of town. The business is your most significant investment by a wide margin, and your partner … [Read more...] about Estate Planning for Small Business Partners
Avoid These Estate Planning Mistakes
We are sometimes approached by people that are looking for legal advice that could be described as damage control. These situations develop because of estate planning mistakes that were made by loved ones that passed away.As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so we will look at a handful of estate planning mistakes to avoid in this blog post.Relying on Intestacy LawsSome individuals know that in a perfect world, they should have an estate plan in place, but they … [Read more...] about Avoid These Estate Planning Mistakes
Emotional Barriers Can Cause Estate Planning Inaction
Studies that are conducted consistently produce disappointing results when it comes to estate planning preparedness. A solid majority of American adults have no estate planning documents in place, and this lack of planning is not confined to the younger age groups.Why do so many people fail to prepare for an event with financial ramifications that will happen to everyone? There is no one answer, but there are multiple emotional barriers that often keep people frozen with inaction.Stigma … [Read more...] about Emotional Barriers Can Cause Estate Planning Inaction
Can You Modify a Living Trust?
One of the misconceptions that many people harbor about estate planning is the notion that you lose control of assets that you convey into any type of trust. This is definitely not the case when it comes the most commonly utilized trust, which is the revocable living trust.If you create a trust, you are called the grantor of the device. The trustee is the person or entity that serves as the trust administrator, and the beneficiaries can receive distributions from the trust. As the grantor of … [Read more...] about Can You Modify a Living Trust?
Include Advance Directives in Your Estate Plan
Estate planning is often thought of as a purely financial exercise, and of course, you do have to facilitate asset transfers to your loved ones. At the same time, it is important to prepare for the eventualities that you may face toward the end of your life.In this post, we will look at two essential advance directives for health care that should be part of your estate plan.Life Support PreferencesIf you are in a terminal condition late in your life with no hope of recovery, there may be … [Read more...] about Include Advance Directives in Your Estate Plan
Living Trust Administration: Intentions Matter
Before we get into the specific subject that is at the core of this post, we should explain some of the reasons why you may want to use a living trust instead of a last will.One of them is the facilitation of a streamlined estate administration process. When a will is used, the executor that is named in the document would be required to admit it to probate. This is a costly and time-consuming legal process.In addition to the time and money that is consumed, there a loss of privacy, … [Read more...] about Living Trust Administration: Intentions Matter
How Can an Estate Be Challenged?
Estate planning can seem like it is all about the decisions that you make with regard to the way that you distribute your assets. This is definitely the core of the exercise, but in order for everything to go smoothly, you should consider the other half of the equation.How will the people that you include in your plan feel about the decisions that you made? Even more profoundly, what about individuals that were left out? In this post, we will look at some details about estate … [Read more...] about How Can an Estate Be Challenged?
