I have posted before that we do probates in ALL COUNTIES OF CALIFORNIA.  I found this nice list which includes links to the government sites. I thought you might find it useful as well. Again, we do probate Court work in all counties in California.  We can “appear” telephonically in these courthouses and thus we […]

ALERT New law as of January 1, 2020. The amount has been raised to $166,250 I already told you that California probate code sections 13100 and the sections thereafter are going to be updated for 2012.  The law has been set at $100,000 for California “small” estates since 1996. Before that it had been $60,000. […]

It seems I am very often dealing with cases where the son, daughter or other “trusted” person steals from mom or dad late in life.  That is, when mom and dad are most vulnerable their most trusted loved ones are stealing from them.  Yes, it’s sometimes called “borrowing” and sometimes called “payment for services” and […]

California estate planning at it’s simplest is about planning for you and your spouse.  However, in many cases, the bigger benefit in estate planning is how you can leave things for your children, grandchildren and other subsequent generations with advantages you can’t set up for yourselves. You want to avoid estate taxes, avoid capital gains […]

I have blogged several times before about the California Heggstad petition. It’s a way to get an asset into a trust after death without going through a full probate. However, I had to think about it how many different ways I have seen people ask about this petition? The official case, that generated the “law” […]

I have written before about Heggstad petitions.  In particular you can see my formal article, with case background information, on my website at https://californiaprobate.info/probate/petition-related-to-trusts As stated there a Heggstad petition is a way to get property (real and personal) into your California trust AFTER death.  It can be used for almost any assets: bank accounts, stock […]

Ok you have set up your California revocable “living” or “loving” trust. It’s to make sure all your assets have been transferred to your trust properly.  Last week we talked about your real estate including time shares. Now let’s talk about your bank and other financial accounts. Yes, you should transfer all your bank accounts […]

On TV an attorney just picks up the file and heads to the Courthouse right? They usually have no other cases so it makes it very easy to focus on that one case, with one opposing attorney, the one Judge, the one court room at the one courthouse.  In real life attorneys have a lot […]

When Michael Jackson died I posted the following: “Michael Jackson has been dead less than 24 hours and there are dozens of articles on the internet about this already.  He is in debt $400 million or $500 million or who knows how much….  However, he has assets… worth $500 million or $1 billion… or really […]

Currently you can pass up to $100,000 after death without going through probate. California Probate Code 13100 provides the backbone of that. It’s pasted below. I have heard the California legislature is changing that to $150,000 effective January 1, 2012. Let’s see…. California Probate Code Section 13100 Excluding the property described in Section 13050, if […]