A: Although a will is an essential piece to an estate plan, on its own, a will does absolutely nothing to help keep your family out of probate. Having said that, just because you only have a will does not automatically mean your estate will be subject to probate. For...
A: If probate is necessary, someone must come forward to start the probate process, which generally lasts six months to a year and consists of three main phases: 1) Appointment of the executor/administrator; 2) Administration of the estate; and 3) Closing of the...
A: Probate is an acronym that stands for “Painful Robbery Of Bank Accounts, Time, & Energy”. OK, so maybe it’s not actually an acronym, but that’s still a very accurate description and easy way to remember why it’s so terrible! Technically, probate...
A: The law giveth, and the law taketh. Fortunately, if the original deed triggered a reassessment, we can use a “Rescission Deed” to return ownership to the previous owners (as if the previous deed had NEVER existed!). However, there are two CRITICAL...
A: One common example of a transfer that causes reassessment is when one sibling buys out another after inheriting a piece of property from their parents. Although the initial transfer from the parents to the children does not result in reassessment...
A: Under Prop 13, property taxes can only be increased a MAXIMUM of 2% annually (until the property is transferred). In practice, this law is so critical because property values in California have historically increased by far more than 2% per year,...
A: Yes, without a trust that property is destined for probate, and here’s why: The current law states that if the fair market value of the property is greater than $166,250 - and it’s hard to imagine a home in the Napa area that is worth less than...
