Who is the client?
The phone rings and I pick it up. “Hello, my name is John Simmons. You’ve worked with my mother Betty Simmons?” “Yes, that’s right,” I say. “Well, we need to change her Will. Now.” “Who’s ‘we’?” I ask. “We is me and my sister April. We need to change Mom’s Will. Now. “ “John, I’ve worked with your mother, and if she would like to change her trust, which we did a number of years ago, I’ll need to have her call me. She can come in and we can discuss the changes she’d like to make, and I’d be happy to work with her on that.” “Oh, well, she can’t really do that.” “Why not?” “Well, she can’t...
Read MoreWhom to choose?
One of the biggest stumbling blocks clients find in estate planning is the question of whom they will choose as trustees of their trusts, executors of their wills and agents for their powers of attorney.
Read MoreKeeping your assets in your trust.
I started a theme last month, which has to do with making sure your assets are in your trust. This goes for real property as well as other forms of property. Last month I wrote about making sure that real property you own in states other than California is re-titled in your names as trustees of your trust. Let’s step back a minute and review what the legal term “property” refers to. Often people say they have no “property” because they don’t own real estate, or because they have not yet paid off their mortgage. Legally, there are several types of property and everyone has something. Real...
Read MoreFunny what some people think about estate planning.
Ask your average person on the street about any number of topics—baseball stats, the latest scandal news running on CNN, where to buy a good lawn mower, whatever—and you’ll probably get an earful of mostly accurate information. Ask the average person what he or she knows about estate planning and you might get some real doozies of misinformation. I think that’s because estate planning is about getting old, death, family and finances—and that’s a combination a lot of people would rather not think about. I am continually amazed by some of the things new clients tell me when it comes to estate...
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