So you’ve gathered the client’s data—personal and financial—and know the client’s objectives. What do you do? Here are 5 typical documents you’ll need for the estate plan. Continue reading
Filed under: Checklists, Estate Planning, Legal Topics, New Lawyers | Tagged: Advanced Health Care Directive, beneficiary designations, estate planning documents, power of attorney, wills and trusts | 1 Comment »
As any seasoned estate planner knows, it’s crucial to learn of all your client’s assets before developing a comprehensive plan. This is particularly important when it comes to out-of-state real property, which may be subject to that state’s potential inheritance or estate tax if left unaccounted. Add the costs and headaches of an ancillary probate, and your client’s loved ones will be left wishing for a better way. Lucky for you (and them), there is!
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Filed under: Estate Planning, Uncategorized | Tagged: ancillary probate, death tax, estate tax, gift tax, inheritance tax, out-of-state, probate, real property, trust | 2 Comments »
When the marriage is over, former spouses usually want their property to go somewhere else when they die. At least the revocation-on-divorce statute assumes this is so and renders transfers made to the other spouse null and void. The statute became effective in 2001, but it now looks like it may affect transfers made before then. Continue reading
Filed under: Elder Law, Estate Planning, Legal Topics, New Legal Developments | Tagged: beneficiary designations, divorce, transfers on death | Leave a comment »
When the meaning of a term significantly affects the will’s interpretation and a misunderstanding may lead to confusion, conflict, or even litigation, consider including a bespoke definition clause. The definitions should provide the personal representative (or testamentary trustee) with clear directions for the distribution even though many years may have passed between the execution of the will and the testator’s death. Continue reading
Filed under: Estate Planning, Legal Topics | Tagged: defining will terms, definitions, drafting a will, Estate Planning, language for a will, terms of a will, writing a will | Leave a comment »
For many of us, an unanticipated influx of money leads to getting that remodel off the ground, paying for college, or taking that long-dreamed-of vacation. For persons with disabilities, that same influx can lead to a loss of vital public benefits. The influx means the person needs to seek legal advice on whether to establish a first-party special needs trust (SNT) or join a first-party pooled SNT. See 42 USC §1396p(d)(4)(A) or 42 USC §1396p(d)(4)(C). Continue reading
Filed under: Estate Planning, Legal Topics, New Legal Developments | Tagged: asset protection, disabled adult, Medi-Cal, public benefits, special needs trust, SSI | 1 Comment »
Proposition 13 has allowed many homeowners and other property owners to perpetuate low historical assessments for years or generations using the interspousal exclusion and parent-child (or grandparent-grandchild) exclusion from a change in ownership at death. Rev & T C §§63, 63.1. These property tax opportunities are an important part of California estate planning, and life estates play an important role in making it work. Continue reading
Filed under: Elder Law, Estate Planning, Legal Topics | Tagged: grandparent-grandchild exclusion, life estates, parent-child exclusion, Prop 13, property tax, Proposition 13, tax assessment, tax planning | 2 Comments »
The purpose of a trust document is to convey information to its intended audience. But that audience is typically a very disparate group in terms of its education in general and its knowledge of trusts and taxes in particular. How can you write a trust that’s understandable to them all?
Filed under: Estate Planning, Legal Topics, New Lawyers | Tagged: drafting trust documents, living trust, recovable trust | 4 Comments »
