Having a basic California estate plan in place may help you accomplish a number of important goals. For example, it may help you avoid leaving certain areas of your life and legacy in the hands of others. It may, too, help your beneficiaries access what you leave them...
Helping You Through Times of Change
Year: 2021
Take steps to fund your trust
Creating a trust allows you to pass money or property to family, friends or an organization of your choice without going through probate. However, the task of setting up your trust is not over when you sign the documents to create your trust. You have to fund your...
Who should you pick as a power of attorney?
One of the most important documents to include in your estate plan is your power of attorney. If something happens where you end up incapacitated, a power of attorney dictates who you want to make decisions for you. According to CNBC, you should have two different...
How can you prevent family conflict after you die?
Your idea of how to distribute your assets may not make sense to some of your family members. In fact, they may try to convince you to change your mind. Misunderstandings and confusion may increase the chances of family conflict after your death. This kind of tension...
What is a pour-over will and who needs one?
Wills and trusts are two of the main estate planning tools used by California residents. A pour-over will acts as a kind of safety net for when a person dies without transferring all property into a trust. How does a pour-over will work and do you need one? How a...
Why are more Americans leaving unequal inheritances?
When creating an estate plan, the textbook advice is to “keep it as fair as possible.” Typically, this refers to portioning out your estate into even chunks for your beneficiaries. Particularly if you have multiple adult children, unequal inheritances have the...
What happens to digital assets after you die?
Digital assets include social media accounts, cryptocurrency, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). According to Tech Crunch, digital assets are often overlooked during estate planning. This can leave wealth in limbo as family and legal teams struggle to gain access to what...
Understanding how divorce impacts one’s estate plans
It goes without saying that one's divorce brings about several changes in their life in California. Several aspects of their future require re-examination (including their estate plans). Given that (according to information shared by the Centers for Disease Control...
Intestate succession explained
Like many people in California, you may look to the estate planning process with a certain degree of trepidation. Not only does the process force you to face the prospect of your own mortality, but you also risk upsetting some of your presumptive heirs with your...
Should you set up a trust during estate planning?
During the estate planning process, you will likely create a will that lays out important information about how to handle your property after you pass. You may want to consider another option for transferring your estate after your death. A trust is a fiduciary...