Bay Area Estate And Tax Planning Law Firm
An incentive trust is one way to leave an inheritance to a specific beneficiary. Instead of leaving them the money in your will, you fund the trust with that money and name them as the beneficiary, giving the trustee instructions to distribute payouts. The incentive...
Adults establishing estate plans often choose between wills or trusts as their primary testamentary instruments. For some people, both documents can be beneficial. Trusts are helpful for people concerned about costly estate taxes, disputes among beneficiaries or...
Adults should have a valid estate plan that outlines their wishes for their assets when they pass away. When they don’t have one, they die intestate, which means that their assets are handled based on the state’s intestate succession laws. In California, intestate...
Addressing financial obligations is a key component of estate administration. A personal representative or executor typically needs to provide appropriate notice to mortgage lenders, credit card companies and others who may have a financial interest in the estate....
When creating your will, you’ve carefully chosen who should inherit your home, your savings or a family heirloom everyone quietly covets. However, even the most well-thought-out will can fall apart if someone decides to challenge it. Many people turn to a no-contest...
People who have high-value estates often want to be able to pass as much as they can to their loved ones. Estate taxes are one thing that can significantly cut down on what your loved ones will receive if you have an estate that’s valued over a specific amount, which...
Most people make an estate plan with the intention of never having to look at it again, but that’s not what thought should be present. Instead, anyone creating an estate plan should prepare to review it periodically. As a general rule, estate plans should be reviewed...
If you’d like to have a bit more control over what happens to the inheritance you are leaving to your beneficiaries, you may want to consider putting that inheritance into a trust. If you just leave it to them in your will, you can decide who gets specific assets, but...
Estate and trust administration may require months or years of concerted effort. The person creating an estate plan or funding a trust typically selects someone to manage administrative matters. A trustee helps administer a trust, while a personal representative or...
A will serves an important legal purpose. The instructions included in a will establish the testator's legacy after they die. Wills may include information about what beneficiaries should inherit from an estate. Wills also empower certain people to serve as personal...