I primarily represent the fiduciary in my trust and probate cases. That is I represent the trustee, executor, administrator or personal representative. That is, the person who has been in-trusted to gather assets, determine liabilities, deal with taxes and eventually distribute the assets. However, there are some cases when I represent a beneficiary. In most […]

In the probate world we like to say if there’s a question the answer is in the California Probate Code. However, this wouldn’t apply to people leaving money to their pets, right!?  That only happens in the movies, right!?  Well, guess what… California Probate Code section 15212 covers PET TRUSTS. Come on, we are California, […]

Your attorney has recommend you go to mediation to settle the dispute with your brother related to your mom or dad’s death.  Or maybe the probate Judge has ordered you to go to mediation before they will hear your case any more in Court.  Will mediation help you settle your dispute?  In this attorney’s opinion […]

If you drive a Lexus do you take it to the Ford dealer to get serviced?  Likewise, if you drive a Buick do you take it to Honda dealership for service? My guess is you don’t. My guess is you want someone who specializes in your type of car to fix your car.  What about […]

I have written before about asset protection. It’s the hot item right now as people are getting sued, finding out they co-signed something they should not have, and finding out that personal guarantees mean you can actually be personally LIABLE!  Today I am going to write about a simple thing you can do with your current […]

I generally say “let me know about two weeks before you need it” when people tell me they are thinking about getting their will or trust done.  Yes, I smile and sometimes wink after saying that. The fact is we don’t know when our two week timer has started… and when it’s going to BUZZ!  […]

I recently met with “Mabel,” an 85 year old client with a dog named “Buddy” who she loves very much. When Mabel dies who will take care of Buddy?  She believes her neighbor will take Buddy but will he?  Can Mabel do something to provide more security for Buddy?  Herein lies a problem when the […]

At least once a week I get a call from a perspective client that goes something like this: ME: “Good morning this is John Palley….” CLIENT: “I need your help fast… we are trying to sell mom’s house… it might be in foreclosure… and the mortgage company won’t talk to me since we haven’t started […]

Estate planning attorneys love acronyms: Q-TIP, Q-DOT and Q-PRT are three relatively well known types of trusts.  Others include ILIT, CRT, GRAT, GRIT and A/B.  Though all of these initials are good estate planning tools to consider the QPRT, or QUALIFIED PERSONAL RESIDENCE TRUST is a vastly underutilized tool in this author’s opinion. A QPRT […]

Not sure how to demonstrate SILENCE but go back and re-read the title of this post and then pretend you are sitting in the cone of silence from the TV show (no, not the movie) Get Smart.  Oh boy, not the movie!  That thing was painfully bad.  The silence of the cone of silence (or […]