Category Archives: Wills
A Primer On Different Kinds Of Trusts
When reading about estate planning, you probably hear a lot about different kinds of trusts. The names of trusts fly fast and furious, but rarely does anybody stop and just give you a basic primer on what these kinds of trusts do, and what they actually mean. Here’s a short list with short explanations… Read More »
The Heggstad Petition Sounds Strange, But Helps A Lot Of People
There are a number of benefits to transferring homes and other real property into a California trust. But unlike many other items that can just be named in the trust, in order for real estate to be transferred into the trust, the official title, deed, recording, and other official documents must be executed and… Read More »
Partition In Probate: What Is It And Will It Affect You?
Let’s imagine that you have a home, and that in your estate documents, you are going to leave that home to your adult kids. Of course, you don’t want to favor one child over another, so you leave the home to all the kids, jointly. When you pass, all the kids are equal co-owners… Read More »
Mistakes Happen, Which Is Why There’s Will Reformations
When we draft any legal documents, including ones related to estate law, we try to make sure those documents are accurate, updated and mistake free. But often mistakes do happen. The problem in probate law is that the person whose will or estate document is being interpreted isn’t around anymore to clarify or correct… Read More »
How Does Generation Skipping Work, And Why Do It?
You may already know that in this country, if you get an inheritance, there is a chance that your estate may have to pay estate taxes if you leave property to your beneficiaries. Thankfully, the current estate tax threshold is about $12,000,000 (meaning that if less than that amount is being left to beneficiaries,… Read More »
Disclaiming Or Refusing An Inheritance: Why Do It And How Do You Do It?
If you stand to get an inheritance, that is, most of the time, good news. And if you are creating an estate plan, you would imagine that whomever you leave your property or assets to, would want that property. But sometimes that isn’t the case. There are times where getting an inheritance isn’t a… Read More »
What Is An Ancillary Proceeding And Will You Need To File One?
When someone dies in the state of California, and a probate action needs to be filed, it is filed in California. That seems to make some sense. But often, things aren’t that simple. That’s because people often have property in other states, even if they live and die in California. Additionally, many people have… Read More »
Planning For And Defining Incapacity In Your Estate Plan Documents
When forming an estate plan and creating estate documents, incapacity plays a big role. You may want to dictate what happens to your property should you become physically or mentally incapacitated. You may want to leave property to beneficiaries, but do something specific with that property in the event your beneficiaries become incapacitated. Whatever… Read More »
Benefits And Risks Of Transferring Property Into A Trust
The use of trusts is a vital, important and very useful aspect of estate planning. Generally, trusts can be used to accomplish almost every kind of estate planning goal—they can avoid probate, and give you control over who gets what and when—including outing conditions on the distribution of your wealth and assets. Real estate… Read More »
Don’t Forget These Things If You Are A Trustee
If you are creating an estate plan, there is no doubt that a vital part of that plan is the creation of trusts. There are no shortages of the kinds of trusts that you can use and there is surely a trust that can accomplish whatever your estate planning goals may be. But there’s… Read More »