When a person has a substantial estate to transfer upon their death, he or she will often utilize wills and trusts to handle many of the issues that they may face. Wills and trusts are often an excellent way to avoid probate court and to see that the deceased person's...
Focused And Personalized Attention Concerning Your Estate Planning Needs
Michael A. Sawamura, Attorney at Law
In Jobs we trust: What we can learn from Steve Jobs’ estate
Many people seem to believe that the term "estate planning" doesn't apply to them. To those people, only the rich and famous need to worry about intricacies of estate planning, because only they have estates worth making a plan for. That's simply not true. Average...
Power of attorney: Important for your healthcare
Estate planning is critical, even though we often make excuses for avoiding it. Making decisions about how worldly possessions will be distributed upon one's death is part of the process, but it's not the only part that should be involved in estate planning for...
Family members continue parents foundation
There are times when having a will truly help parents and heirs alike. One such instance occurred in California after a husband and wife passed, leaving their estate to their son. It had been their wishes that the family home be sold and the proceeds be placed into...
Revocable trusts a good option for California blended families
Estate planning for a California blended family can be a challenging to try to create something that is fair to both spouses and their children. A revocable living trust is one means of accomplishing that goal. This type of revocable trust becomes irrevocable upon the...
Portability provision aids estate planning
Even those California residents who are young and healthy may benefit from estate planning. A good estate plan will maximize the size of the estate while minimizing the potential tax consequences for one's heirs. Moreover, proper estate planning will reduce the need...
California seeks asset protection help for seniors and disabled
One aspect of estate planning may be that an individual or couple is "house rich" but strapped for cash. In some California communities, real property taxes have risen to the point that seniors are in danger of losing their homes solely for not being able to come up...
Estate plan for Apple’s Steve Jobs still a mystery
According to public records, while on medical leave from Apple in 2009, co-founder Steve Jobs and his spouse are said to have placed at least three properties into trusts. One reason for doing this may have been their desire to keep their assets from being disclosed...
Estate planning for those with special needs
When someone with special needs receives an inheritance or a personal injury award, they may no longer be eligible for needs based government benefits. However, this type of one-time windfall can be put into a trust for the recipient's benefit so they can continue...
Adoption complicates probate, siblings disinheritted
In a case that illustrates the kind of problems California attorneys who provide estate planning services deal with regularly, a judge ruled that their mother's adoption severed three siblings' legal connection to their aunt, which caused them to be denied any part of...