Don’t procrastinate!
Here is a true story for you with some details changed to protect the innocent. Jackie was a single, middle-aged woman without any living relatives. She owned a house and needed to have it in a revocable living trust in order for her estate to not have to pass to friends by way of probate after her death. But Jackie was loathe to even make a Will, even though her friends kept telling her she needed to do so. Jackie contacted her old friend Marie and asked her advice. Marie is an attorney who works in personal injury law but doesn’t know the ins and outs of estate planning. Marie advised...
Read MoreHoliday 2014 Greetings
Whew! What a year. It has gone by so fast. It has been several months since I’ve been able to send out this newsletter. I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy holiday season and coming New Year. I’ve worked very hard this year in my law practice and that’s why I’ve been remiss in sending out this newsletter. Some of you know that I was previously a published author, journalist and academic. Writing and publishing is something I’ve always loved. While I continue and will continue to practice estate planning law full-time for the long run, I have also returned to being...
Read MoreEstate planning—should you do it yourself?
I like do-it-yourself projects as much as the next person. When it comes to professional services, such as legal work (or medical, dental, automobile, tax preparation and on and on) I go to people who know what they’re doing in these areas. Regina attended one of my public talks and then called me for an appointment to review her existing estate planning documents. When she got to my office, it turned out that she did not want to pay for services to have an attorney prepare her documents. She was convinced that this was all a big do-it-yourself project. She showed me her own handiwork in...
Read MoreWho gets my stuff?
How do we think about whom we want to name as beneficiaries for our Wills and Trusts? For some people, it’s a no-brainer. A couple or single person may have lovely, well-adjusted children, and there’s no question that they will inherit it all. But one of the not-so-secret features of our society is that we don’t all have lovely, well-adjusted children. Leo Tolstoy wrote that “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” I find that to be so true in estate planning. And, at the same time, I have some general advice. Gina is 80 years old and has had a lively,...
Read MoreMarriage and property
It was excellent news last year when a pair of Supreme Court decisions allowed same-sex marriage to remain legal in California, and for it to be recognized under federal law. I’m seeing lots of newly married and soon-to-be-married same sex couples for estate planning. Some of have been together for decades and have well-established ideas about how they want to own property and have it distributed after their deaths. Others are just starting to understand what it means, legally and financially, to be married in California. Marriage changes, among other things, one’s relationship to one’s...
Read MoreWhat is property?
It’s so much more than what many people think of when they hear that word. They may think it’s the house or their Tahoe time share or the motorcycle in the garage. Property is a legal term meaning anything one owns. In the law, traditionally, property falls into three categories: Real property which is buildings and land—you can pick up a brick or a clump of dirt—it’s “real”; Intangible personal property, which is cash and its equivalents. It’s sort of invisible (and, yes, it can easily disappear); and Tangible personal property: that’s anything you can touch, such as jewelry, artwork,...
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