More and more people are being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia than ever before – in part because medical professionals have gotten more aggressive about screening senior patients for early signs of cognitive disorders. There’s nothing...
Estate Planning
California law and including a caregiver in your estate plan
If you’re one of the growing numbers of seniors whose adult children live far away, you probably rely at least part-time on an in-home caregiver who helps you out with any number of things from cooking and cleaning to running errands to home repairs and more. This can...
Do you need to bother with creating a digital estate plan?
While traditional estate planning generally focuses on tangible assets, medical concerns, guardianships for minor children and financial accounts, a digital estate plan covers everything from social media profiles to digital currencies. Essentially, if you draft a...
To whom should your aging parents grant power of attorney?
As your beloved parents age, it becomes increasingly important to plan for their future. This includes preparing for the possibility of their inability to make decisions for themselves. An effective tool you can use to plan for your aging parents’ incapacitation is a...
4 different types of trusts
A revocable trust allows you to give a trustee the right to hold and manage assets until instructed. Typically, this means that once the grantor passes away, the trustee has the responsibility to give assets to beneficiaries. A revocable trust can be altered by the...
What does a trustee do?
When it comes to trusts, the role of a trustee is of paramount importance. If you’re navigating the details of trust structures, comprehending the duties and responsibilities of a trustee is essential. A trust is a legal entity that holds and manages assets for the...
Does a child inherit a parent’s debt?
When a child and a parent cosign a loan together, then they share this debt. For instance, maybe they have a joint credit card or they cosign student loans or even a mortgage. If the parent passed away, the adult child would still be responsible for that debt. But...
Revocable vs. Irrevocable trust: What’s the difference?
We all want to leave a little something behind for the people we love when we pass on. Besides a will, one of the estate planning tools that you can use to designate inheritance for your loved ones is a trust. This estate planning tool allows you to allocate to...
3 things to know about irrevocable trusts
Irrevocable trusts are an important estate planning resource. They offer a unique blend of control, protection and financial efficiency. Unlike revocable trusts, once an irrevocable trust is created, it generally can’t be altered or rescinded by the grantor. This...
Decanting an irrevocable trust in California
Irrevocable trusts are a popular estate planning tools because they allow estates to be administered without first going through the public and sometimes costly probate process. Irrevocable trusts may also reduce estate taxes. Irrevocable trusts are so named because...