Innocently or not so innocently a lot of times the original will can not be found after death. Does that mean the estate plan will not be followed? It depends.  In many instances a photocopy will be honored as long as there is no proof of intent to revoke the will. Here are the most […]

Wills v. trusts or is it trusts v. wills or is it really wills AND trusts!? I get into this discussion a lot with my clients.  Many people do not realize that in a proper California estate plan you will have BOTH a will AND a trust. You can read my more formal article on […]

As I have said before there it is amazing how many questions are answered in the California probate code relating to California probate, trusts, estates, estate planning, and related matters.  I have an interesting case right now where there is confusion with some poorly written terms of a trust and there is no successor trustee named in […]

Who should administer your California probate? If you don’t have a named Executor in your will then it falls to the California probate code and generally then to the order of preference laid out in probate code section 8461. I have pasted that section, in it’s entirety, below.  Notice “any other person” is at the […]

I just saw this on PRweb. Interesting read I thought: Estate Street Partners affirms that through Steve’s brilliant foresight, he may very well have saved his family $3B and public scrutiny with well-constructed irrevocable trusts Boston, MA (PRWEB) October 27, 2011 Steve Jobs may not have been able to cheat death, but it appears that […]

There are many issues relating to what’s a valid will in California. YES, it can be handwritten!  A formal will is typed, signed and TWO witnesses.  Be careful about documents that are in the middle; i.e. typed, signed and no witnesses or a notary.  You should not notarize a will. Just two witnesses not related to […]

There are so many reasons why a trust remains unfunded or only partially funded at death. I have talked about it before. The most common situations are: 1) re-fi or reverse mortgage taken out before death. The house is usually removed from the trust to complete the loan and the title company does not put […]

I am posting this as a public service. I got it from the California Franchise Tax Board web page.  Until October 31, 2011 you can get amnesty for under reported income in the past related to off shore trusts among other arrangements.  I encourage you to hire an accountant or tax attorney if you are […]

I represent a lot of executors, administrators, trustees and personal representatives (collectively we will call them a “fiduciary”) in California probate and trust and administration cases.  Likewise I sometimes represent a beneficiary in a case. That is I make sure that the beneficiaries or an “heir at law” is represented so that the fiduciary does their job properly. […]

Being an expert on California Heggstad petitions, pursuant to California Probate Code section 850, I get a lot of lawyers asking me questions about Heggstads. That’s ok. I don’t mind. A lot of times the other lawyer realizes it is a complex petition that they should leave to the experts. In other cases I help […]