Some Unusual Advice
Not in a million years would I have thought I’d recommend that people get legally married. But in some cases – I do. Harry and his partner Sally lived together in a house they bought in Oakland in the 1980s, at a very low price and with a very low California property tax basis. They’d both been in bad marriages, so they vowed to never get legally married. They each owned 50% of their house as tenants in common, and each paid half the bills. Flash forward nearly 40 years later. Sally has now died and, yes, she had a trust leaving her half of the house to Harry, which is good. The problem is...
Read MoreAbout that Missing Grant Deed…
If you have worked with me in the past about your estate planning, and if you own a house, you will recall that one of the first pieces of information I ask for from any new client is a copy of their Grant Deed. What is a Grant Deed? It’s the 1-3 page document that was signed by the previous owner, to you, when you bought your house. It was recorded with your County Recorder, and it was mailed directly to you a few weeks after purchase of the house was complete. A Grant Deed tells exactly how you took title, whether it was you alone or you with a spouse, whether you used middle names or...
Read MoreA Message from the Law Offices of Sara R. Diamond
Greetings! During this critical time period, I am continuing to meet with clients by phone and also by email. Please feel free to let me know if you’d like to schedule an appointment by phone. Or email me to let me know about your estate planning needs. As soon as possible, I’ll let people know when we can meet again in person. Now is a good time to calmly review and update one’s estate planning documents. We want to minimize the things we’re worrying about. If you know someone who has not yet prepared themselves with estate planning, please consider referring them to me. I appreciate...
Read MoreA Will or a Trust?
Very often people do not know whether they need a Will or a Trust. The answer is usually: both. Most people are familiar with what a Will is. It’s a simple document, handwritten or printed on fancy paper, that says who will inherit what you own after you die. If you have children under the age of eighteen, a Will is where you may nominate the people you would like to take care of your children as Guardians appointed by a Judge, if you die before the children are adults. That’s it. A Will does nothing to address a myriad of issues and needs if you ever become incapacitated due to illness,...
Read MoreWho’s the Client?
Joseph and Janet are siblings who contacted me recently about amending their mother’s trust. Whenever I get a call like this, I wonder what is going on. It’s fine for an adult child to call an attorney,arrange for an appointment and even transport an elderly parent to my office. But we have an important concept in estate planning called: “who’s the client?” It’s the elder, not the rest of the family. We meet first alone with the elderly client. The reason is that we have to make surean elderly client is capable of stating, in their own plain words, what they are trying to do with their...
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