A: A durable power of attorney is a legal document that authorizes another person to act on your behalf immediately or when you become incapacitated. By signing a durable power of attorney, you give the nominated agent (also called the attorney-in-fact) the ability to...
A: Yes you do! This is what we estate planning attorneys refer to as "trust funding". In this case, you will need to make sure you sign and record a new grant deed showing your trust as the owner of the property! And remember, if you forget to do this, your...
A: Yes! The Federal Lifetime Exclusion Amount (for deaths that occur in 2023) is now set at $12.92 million per person (or $25.84 million per married couple). This means that a married couple can effectively leave $25.84 million of inheritance to their chosen...
A: A pour-over will is a type of will that works in conjunction with your trust. It is an important piece of your estate plan because it helps to ensure that the assets that you intend to include in your trust can be transferred to your trust after your death if they...
A: Yes you do! And more importantly, without a trust, the probate laws of California would not only consider you the owner of the property at your death, but would also charge your heirs probate fees based on the fair market value of the home and NOT on the amount of...
A: It depends. Under California law, the inheritance is initially considered separate property and would not be subject to an equal split in the event of a divorce. However, if you commingle the money by using it to create a joint bank account, a joint property or any...
A: Absolutely. First, in a general sense, we would recommend that ANY trust of that age be reviewed given the changes in laws and potentially changed circumstances since the original trust was signed. Second, the specific trust that you have, namely an A/B trust, is...
A: No, California does NOT recognize common law marriage. Therefore, it is even MORE imperative to have a well-designed estate plan in place to make sure you are each provided for in the event of an untimely death.
A: The new Medi-Cal law essentially states that for anyone who dies after January 1, 2017, Medi-Cal is only allowed to recover reimbursement against assets that are subject to the decedet's probate estate. Or, said differently: Medi-Cal is prohibited from going after...
A: You can choose either option! There may be valid reasons to pick multiple people to act as the trustee, just as there may be valid reasons to only have one person acting at a time. An experienced estate planning attorney can usually advise as to what would make the...
