Reviewing your estate plan may feel like an enormous task. This is especially true if your plan has a lot of components to it. Fortunately, you do not need to review each part every time you look over the plan. Instead, you want to focus on a few areas. These areas...
Estate Planning
Should you talk about estate planning with your family?
No one enjoys talking about their end of life plans. Unfortunately, it is one of those things everyone dreads but needs to do anyway. After all, discussing your estate plan with your loved ones is vital to ensuring they understand your needs, wants and logic. But how...
Estate Planning: What Do I Need?
There’s no way to stress the true importance of estate planning for people of all wealth levels. Estate plans protect our wishes regarding the dispensation of assets, name the beneficiaries for important accounts and policies, express our desires for medical care,...
Is it time to update your estate plan?
After creating an estate plan, you must maintain its upkeep. This is a crucial step that not everyone knows about. But your life constantly changes, and your estate plan must reflect your most current circumstances. But what are the rules regarding estate plan...
How can I keep my money in the family after my death?
After your death, you have very little control over what happens with your personal assets. The only control you have is when you create an estate plan, but even then, things can go awry. If your main concern is keeping your money in your family, then you need to...
How can California residents quickly appoint a conservator?
Asking a court to appoint a conservator for your aging parent or relative may not be an easy one since a conservator will assume a lot of responsibility over your loved one. Still, sometimes it is necessary. In fact, some families have an urgent need for a conservator...
When will a court remove an executor?
If you are making your estate plans, you want the executor of your estate to be the best person possible to handle the job. Whoever you appoint will have the responsibility to your heirs to make sure they receive their inheritance. In the event your executor...
What are the differences between a will and a trust?
If you are beginning to think about your estate planning goals, you may be weighing the benefits of having a will, a trust or both. There are similarities and differences to consider and the decision you make could depend on how much control you want over your...
How should I create an estate plan with a blended family?
Getting married for the second, or even subsequent, time is no longer an unusual thing. Many people successfully find happiness in a new marriage after a previous divorce or loss of a spouse due to death. While a blended family may bring great joy to a person's life...
Probate law and the new process to settle small estates
Under California law, there is now a simple procedure beneficiaries can use to settle estates with assets that do not exceed a certain level. The new law helps these small estates avoid probate and simplifies the task of transferring assets. Probate explained...