Creating an estate plan is a tremendous first step for you and your family. Updating your estate plan and ensuring it covers all of the crucial areas that compose your life is even more important. But what does it all mean if you have this estate plan and your heirs...
Month: March 2016
Why failing to update your estate plan is risky
Our source article for this blog post uses a nice hypothetical situation to illustrate why it is important to not only have an organized and thorough estate plan, but also why it is vital to update your estate plan over time. You can read the specifics in that article...
Simple steps to organize and prepare your estate plan
We've said it before, and it is important that we say it again: an estate plan is something that you should be organizing and preparing early on in your life. It's something you don't realize that you need until you really need it -- and then you will wish that you...
What happens to your debt after you die?
When someone passes away, their loved ones and family members will be grieving. It's a tough time for those close to the deceased, and no one truly wants to deal with the serious matters that need to be addressed in the immediate aftermath of a death. Estate...
The Basic Types of Charitable Trusts
Being able to give back to your community may be one of your estate planning goals and it is a commendable one. If you are looking for a legal instrument to help with charitable giving even when you are gone, a trust could provide that avenue for you. In California,...
Making moves: how a will can be changed, revoked or challenged
If you have a will or are considering an estate plan, then you need to know about three actions that can be taken in regard to your will. You can revoke or change your will; and, if your beneficiaries or a person with a stake in your will is so inclined, they can...
Trust Administration and What an Attorney Can Do for You
You may have been given the role of "trustee" over someone else's trust. As the trustee, you are responsible for properly administrating the trust. This creates a legal duty called a "fiduciary duty." As the trustee it is very important that you administer the trust...
Why avoiding probate can be very beneficial
Probate is actually a simple process. It is the act of transferring someone's property upon their death. It may seem surprising for probate to be so simple because probate has a reputation of being a costly and difficult procedure. This is indeed true -- probate can...
Why power of attorney and health care directive are important
Tragedy can strike at any time. That isn't meant to scare you about living your life -- but really, traumatic things can happen. When they do happen, the victims at the center of the tragedy hopefully have provisions and legal actions in place to not only take care of...
When a trust ends, what happens?
Many people turn to trusts in their estate plans because it gives them a lot of control over how they turn their assets over to their beneficiaries, while also allowing them to avoid probate on those assets. But a trust isn't forever. Eventually, it is applied and the...
