Trusts Wouldn’t it be nice to combine the best features of joint tenancy with a Will? That’s where Trusts come into play. Trusts are now one of the most widely used devices to transfer assets from parent to child. Over the course of this series you are going to learn how Trusts are used, and […]
Probate court is not just for probating a Will. In California, the Probate Court generally oversees probate administration cases (that’s where you either have a Will or have an estate with no Will), Trust cases, conservatorships, and guardianships. Probate court does more than that, but those are the big four areas Probate Court handles. Why […]
When your parents create a revocable Trust, they don’t have to tell you about it. And if they change the Trust terms to either give you more or less, they don’t have to tell you that either. Often people will find out about a change to their parent’s Trust after the parent passes and ask, […]
When a bad actor intervenes in your parent’s life to orchestrate a change in their estate plans—a change your parents didn’t want—we call that inheritance theft. It is the fastest growing area of theft among elders. And it often happens when you least expect it. It can be hard to detect and even harder to […]
Trustees and executors share some similarities. They are both fiduciaries. A fiduciary is someone who is put in charge of someone else’s money. A Trustee is a fiduciary over a Trust, and an Executor is a fiduciary over a probate estate. The Role of a Trustee in California The role of a trustee may be […]
Does a beneficiary have to sign a release? Under Probate Code section 16004.5, a Trustee cannot require a beneficiary to sign a release in exchange for making a distribution of Trust assets, provided that the Trust distribution is required to be made as stated in the Trust document. For example, if you are entitled to […]
If you have a bad Trustee who mismanaged assets, misappropriated them, or just stole them, you may be wondering how to find the money. That is a good question, and not always easy to answer. Of course, much depends on how the money was taken, or whether the money was ever part of the Trust to begin […]
Contingency fee agreements give some beneficiaries access to legal representation when they otherwise would not have sufficient funds to pay a lawyer on an hourly basis. Typically, lawyers are paid based on their hourly rate. A lawyer will work so many hours a month on your case, and you pay them monthly based on that hourly […]
The most difficult undue influence cases in California occurs when you want to take action while your parent is still alive. You may believe that your parent is being victimized by a wrongdoer through the use of undue influence, but taking action is complicated. We refer to these cases as the difficult, can’t miss undue influence […]
What rights does a step-mother have to the property of your father? That can be a challenging question to answer because it all depends on how your father planned his estate (or how he failed to plan). While you may think that your father’s assets should go to you after his death, that may not […]
