BLOG

Estate planning treasure map to leave your loved ones

As a California estate attorney since 1994 I have planned thousands of estates with people during their lives and, likewise, dealt with thousands of estates after death in trust administration and also in the California probate process.  Years ago I started calling the schedule of assets, that is often attached to a living trust, a […]

Read More

Happy new year 2023 – GET YOUR WILL DONE

Each year people plan their new year’s resolutions and each year, for many people, “get will done” is on the list.  Another year has passed and, for many of us, that is one more year without a proper estate plan in place.  Please talk to an experienced attorney and get your estate in order.  For […]

Read More

New Years Resolution: Avoid Probate Court When I Die

You probably aren’t the only person with the New Years Resolution to Avoid Probate Court When you Die.  It’s pretty standard for organized adults to want to provide for their loved ones when they die and they want to do it in the most efficient manner possible. The most efficient manner possible is to avoid […]

Read More

Estate planning risk, compliance and COVID-19

Some people might see the title here and think this is an odd title: Estate planning risk, compliance and COVID-19. However, issues like compliance go with estate planning just like they do anything else.  My oldest friend is a consultant in the energy industry for Deloitte & Touche LLP.  Actually, Howard Friedman’s official title is […]

Read More

Covid-19 estate planning to avoid probate court

I imagine anybody reading this blog post has thought about the serious issues related to Covid-19. Most notably of course is the death rate and the rapidly growing numbers of deaths around the world but also right here in California, USA.  I don’t want to sound all doom and gloom but I am a lawyer […]

Read More

National Estate Planning Awareness Week 2019

I know for several years there has been a National Estate Planning Awareness Week every year in October. Now, I am not sure how many people have been aware of this and very likely the only people aware of this already have an estate plan in place. However, anything we can do to get the […]

Read More

Suze Orman or other form trusts MIGHT work ok

I got a new case recently where the person who died had a Suze Orman will and trust. Let’s just say, in legal terms, it’s all messed up! Before I go on let me make clear that Suze has a well deserved reputation as a financial guru. She has helped millions of people get their […]

Read More

New Tax Laws and YOU

Unless you live under a rock, deep in a cave, you have heard about the new tax act that Congress is putting together. This is not a political commentary on that act. More importantly a few things to remember: – With regards to estate tax very few people reading this need to worry about that […]

Read More

Bad deeds

I have had multiple cases recently where title companies have refused to honor deeds recorded around the time of death. That is, the person just before death signed a deed to transfer the property to another. In each case the facts are slightly different. Before I explain more let me tell you that, in my […]

Read More

Estate planning lessons from other’s mistakes

On March 11, 2016 I got the call of a lifetime… and I do not mean that in a good way. I got the call from the police, in Logan, Utah, that my mother had been shot to death by her husband. This is not a post about domestic abuse, gun control or mental health […]

Read More
Call Now ButtonCall Us Today