Advice from Our San Diego Probate Lawyer: Our San Diego probate – estate planning lawyer helps people just like you protect their assets through the process of probate. Probate begins the running of the statute of limitations for creditor claims and requires the executor to put up a bond and be supervised by the court. […]
Estate Planning
Avoid 3 Common Real Estate Tax Pitfalls in Property Inherited by Your Child
Advice from a San Diego Estate Planning Attorney: There are Huge Real Estate Tax Savings Available to Property Inherited by a Child if You Avoid 3 Common Pitfalls Proposition 13 affords great real estate tax savings when a child inherits a home directly from her parents. California law permits real estate to be passed from […]
How Do I Make Sure the Creep My Daughter Married Doesn’t Inherit My Money?
Advice on inheritance from a San Diego trust attorney The San Diego trust attorney hears this question, “How do I make sure the creep my daughter married doesn’t inherit my money?” in one form or another all of the time. And, if you’re like most people, you too want to protect your child’s inheritance from […]
Advice from a San Diego Trust Attorney: How Do I Make Sure My Husband Doesn’t Marry Some Tramp and Leave All of My Money to Her Instead of My Kids?
As our San Diego trust attorney knows, almost everyone has this thought once in awhile, “How Do I Make Sure My Husband Doesn’t Marry Some Tramp and Leave All of My Money to Her Instead of My Kids?” And, while most people are thinking of intentional disinheritance when they ask this question, children get unintentionally […]
Warning from San Diego Estate Planning Attorney: Caretakers Take Advantage of Elderly
As the San Diego estate planning attorney knows, financial abuse of the elderly by caretakers or new friends is common. If you hire a caretaker through an agency, that agency will have performed background checks. If you hire a caretaker privately, be sure to run a background check including criminal and credit checks. Once, you […]
Advice on Community Property from a San Diego Estate Planning Attorney
Community Property Gets Full Step Up in Basis Even When Held in a Revocable Living Trust A San Diego Estate Planning Attorney knows that you, like everyone, likes to save tax dollars whenever possible. So, great news: Community property gets full step up in basis even when held in a revocable living trust. In other […]
Why Married Couples Should Still Use the By-Pass Trust
The by-pass trust is the trust that holds the first spouse to die’s assets up to any unused unified credit amount. This year, that amount is $5,000,000. If you’re not familiar with the term, “by-pass,” trust, you may have heard other terms for the same trust: credit shelter trust, B trust, or family trust. Some […]
What is California’s Probate Process?
Technically, probate is the process by which the court validates your will. The term “probate” also refers to the winding down of your financial life. What assets go through probate? All assets in your individual name or made payable to your estate are subject to the probate process. Examples, would be your house, bank account, […]
Learn from Celebrities: Update Your Estate Plan When You Get Married or Divorced
In general, it’s prudent to review your estate planning documents every three to five years. This catches changes in your life, the law, and your estate planning attorney’s experience. Unless there have been major changes in your life or tax law, there will probably not be any changes necessary. However, if you experience a significant […]
Keep It Private Like Liz Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor seems to have had good estate planning. She, like many others, seek to avoid probate by using a fully funded revocable trust. One of the main reasons people of all means seek to avoid probate is because it is a public process. Probate is public because your will along with your debts, assets, […]