Estate Planning Blog
Posted on Jan 27, 2012 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
As well as having many responsibilities and duties as a joint guardian, your control over the child may come with limits placed on those duties. In the Order for Appointment of a Guardian, the court ...
Continue reading "Joint Guardianship Limitations" »
Posted on Jan 26, 2012 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
As a parent faced with a life threatening disease, you may have considered using a joint guardianship for your minor child. Once you've established that a joint guardianship is the right course of ...
Continue reading "Joint Guardianship Legal Process" »
Posted on Jan 25, 2012 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
As soon as the parent becomes unable to care for the child the appointed guardian will then become responsible for the child's care, custody, and general well-being. The duties required of the ...
Continue reading "Joint Guardian - Your Role and Responsibilities" »
Posted on Jan 23, 2012 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
As part of any estate plan, choosing a guardian for your minor child or children is essential. At this stage for many parents, of course they assume that they are not going to die anytime soon, and ...
Continue reading "Why Terminally Ill Parents May Consider A Joint Guardianship" »
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
It seems like for every new year, there are going to be more new laws. And let's face it, hardly any of us are ever thrilled about that. However, this year there are some changes to the California ...
Continue reading "Changes To California Probate Law - 2012" »
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
If you have discussed the option of disclaiming an inheritance with your estate attorney and have decided it is the correct course of action, there are several rules as to which you will need to ...
Continue reading "Making A Valid Inheritance Disclaimer" »
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
Why exactly would anyone want to refuse their inheritance? Well, believe it or not, refusing, or disclaiming, an inheritance may actually be more beneficial to you than accepting it. If the ...
Continue reading "Can I Disclaim An Inheritance?" »
Posted on Jan 13, 2012 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
A Family Limited Partnership has many benefits and can be a highly valuable tool in your estate plan. As a parent, you can protect your assets even in cases where an accident may have been caused by ...
Continue reading "Benefits of Family Limited Partnerships" »
Posted on Jan 11, 2012 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
In a Family Limited Partnership there are two types of partners that are involved. These are General Partners and Limited Partners. The General Partners are the ones who actually control the ...
Continue reading "Types of Family Limited Partnerships" »
Posted on Jan 9, 2012 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
If you are looking for a way to create a limited partnership in order to transfer asset ownership to members of your family without a mountain of tax consequences, a Family Limited Partnership may be ...
Continue reading "Family Limited Partnership" »
Posted on Jan 3, 2012 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
Welcome to the year 2012! A brand new year with brand new possibilities. And perhaps some brand new property assets? If you are one of the fortunate ones that had a stellar 2011 and have acquired a ...
Continue reading "New Year. New Assets?" »
Posted on Dec 30, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
Earlier this year the IRS filed a lawsuit against the California Board of Equalization due to the board's refusal to turn over records on real estate transfers made to relatives with little or no ...
Continue reading "Trying To Avoid Gift Taxes? The IRS May Be Coming For You!" »
Posted on Dec 27, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
At a glance, online legal form providers may seem like a cheaper alternative way to go for 'do-it-yourself' estate planning. After all, the commercials on radio and television make it seem ...
Continue reading "DIY Estate Planning Is No Substitute for The Real Thing" »
Posted on Dec 26, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
While custodial accounts are very similar to trusts, the point of a custodial account is to allow you to transfer property to minor beneficiaries without having to establish a trust. They work in the ...
Continue reading "Custodial Accounts vs. Trusts" »
Posted on Dec 23, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
If you want to leave and inheritance to a minor beneficiary, and the amount of that inheritance is not too substantial, a good idea would be to leave the assets in a restricted account. This way you ...
Continue reading "Inheritance To Minors - Restricted Accounts" »
Posted on Dec 22, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
If you are thinking of leaving a minor a substantial inheritance you may want to consider leaving it to them in a trust for their entire lifetime. The benefits of creating a trust like this are: - You ...
Continue reading "Inheritance To Minors - Lifetime Trust" »
Posted on Dec 21, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
If you are considering leaving an inheritance to minor beneficiaries you will need to plan carefully as property left to minors will most likely be subjected to some kind of court-supervised ...
Continue reading "Inheritance To Minors - Staggering A Trust" »
Posted on Dec 15, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
In previous posts we discussed types of payments that will qualify for tax exemptions, such as the unlimited education gift exclusion. Another one of these such unlimited exclusions would be payments ...
Continue reading "Unlimited Gift Exclusion for Medical Expenses" »
Posted on Dec 14, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
In addition to the annual exclusion gift there are two types of unlimited gifts. These will not count against the annual gift tax exclusion. The first of these unlimited types of gifts would be any ...
Continue reading "Unlimited Gift Exclusion for Education" »
Posted on Dec 13, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
Now that all the Thanksgiving leftovers have been eaten and the madness of Christmas shopping has begun, it means that the end of 2011 is fast approaching upon us. However, between the shopping and ...
Continue reading "Annual Exclusion Gift for Year End Estate Planning" »
Posted on Dec 9, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
Even if you've already gone through the process of setting up your estate plan, you should always feel free to give your estate planner a call when there are some additional questions or concerns ...
Continue reading "Do Not Hesitate To Call Your Estate Planning Attorney" »
Posted on Dec 8, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
Not according to the California courts. In the case of Christopher Gene Fazzi v. Norma Jean Klein, 2010 Cal. App. LEXIS 2112 , Christopher sought to remove his mother, Norma, has the sole trustee for ...
Continue reading "Are Trustees Protected from Fiduciary Breaches by No Contest Clauses?" »
Posted on Nov 29, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
In the event that a decedent's trust contains a no-contest clause, does that mean that a beneficiary has no right to compel the trustee to distribute and account for the assets? Not necessarily. ...
Continue reading "When A No-Contest Clause is Not Applicable" »
Posted on Nov 28, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
So you want to pass on some assets to your child without their spouse being able to have any control over these assets? Why would you want to do that? Well, the truth is, most parents can see the ...
Continue reading "Protecting Assets Gifted to Your Children" »
Posted on Nov 18, 2011 By Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney
Liliane Bettencourt, the heiress to the L'Oreal cosmetics fortune, has recently been found to be mentally incapable of managing her affairs by a French judge. This decision now grants control of ...
Continue reading "World's 2nd Richest Woman Placed Under Guardianship" »