Introduction I was on a CourtCall today appearing live, though by telephone, in the Lake County probate Court.  As I waited my turn to speak to the Judge I thought about what everybody does while waiting for a probate Court hearing to start… I daydreamed about what I had done to be ready for today’s […]

How to respond to the Notice of Proposed Action You have received a notice of proposed action in a probate real estate sale… now what do you do?  You have options. Generally the notice says that you have until a date (15 days after the notice is mailed) by which you must object to the […]

A great article in Private Wealth magazine quotes yours truly!  It is an article about the people that made large gifts at the end of 2012 to take advantage of the $5.12m federal gift tax exemption. Did any of them have second thoughts when the law was extended in the wee hours on January 1, […]

“I can get a trust done for $500, on the back page of Rolling Stone magazine, so why should I pay you $2,000?” My answer is simply, “we will find out after you die how good your five hundred dollar estate plan is.” I mean that with all sincerity. It MIGHT be just fine. On […]

How would you feel if your evil ex-husband or witch of an ex-wife received your life insurance after you die?  Talk about rolling over in your grave!? Upon filing for divorce, in California, there are automatic restraining orders. Among them, you are not allowed to make changes to non-probate transfers without the consent of your […]