Avoiding unnecessary taxation has long been one of the primary goals of drafting an estate plan for California residents. As we noted in a recent post, the federal gift and estate tax exemption will increase to $5.45 million on January 1, continuing an upward trend...
Focused And Personalized Attention Concerning Your Estate Planning Needs
Year: 2015
Why consult an estate planning attorney?
The primary reason to prepare an estate plan is to ensure that your assets are passed on to those you want to receive them. If you die without a will or trust in California, your estate will be distributed according to the state's intestacy laws. Our law firm...
2016 is a good year to prepare an estate plan
Many individuals in Northern California have been meaning to get around to estate planning for some time. Some people may make it their New Year's resolution to prepare an estate plan in 2016. Preparing an estate plan is extremely important for those who wish to avoid...
Competing wills submitted to court after millionaire’s death
Unfortunately, when a resident of Northern California dies, it is sometimes unclear whether they left a will, or which of several purported wills is valid. The result can be a court battle similar to one now taking place in New York over the estate of a man who died...
The many goals of estate planning in California
The term "estate planning" refers generally to the process of making preparations for the management of one's assets in the event of incapacity, and the distribution of assets to heirs and beneficiaries upon death. There are several important goals that should be...
What are the duties of a trustee in California?
In California, many people opt to use a revocable trust instead of a will as their primary estate planning vehicle. One of the main advantages of a revocable trust is that it can enable the trustor's estate to avoid probate.When a trustor creates a trust, they must...
California home at center of dispute over Gore Vidal’s estate
When novelist Gore Vidal died in 2012, he left an estate worth an estimated $30 million - not including future royalties from his published works. But within months of his death, distant relatives began fighting over the property he left behind, including a $4 million...
Estate plans are not just for the ultra-wealthy
Most of us do not know how to relate to the financial power of the super-wealthy. Whether they earned their money from the entertainment industry, in the tech sector, or through another path to substantial earnings, some California residents possess assets and wealth...
Naming beneficiaries is an important part of estate planning
As we discussed in last week's post, under California law there are some assets in an estate that will pass to beneficiaries independently of the instructions in a will or trust. These non-probate assets include funds or securities in bank accounts, investment...
Why is avoiding probate important in California?
When the subject of estate planning comes up in conversation in California, someone often mentions the goal of avoiding probate. But what exactly is probate, and why is it something to be avoided?Probate is basically the court-supervised process of gathering a...