Estate Planning

A Will is a legal document that names individuals or charities that will receive your property upon your death.  A Will, also known as a Last Will and Testament, names the person who will be the executor of your estate and can nominate guardian(s) for your minor children.
If you do not have a Will established at the time of your death, your property will pass through intestate succession.  Intestate succession directs the property to be passed onto your heirs or in some cases, to the heirs of your spouse.  The decedent has absolutely no control over who receives property through intestate succession and the property could end up going to a long lost family member with whom you no longer have contact.
The best way to ensure that your property is passed to the beneficiary of your choosing is to draft a Will.  Call today to set up an appointment.

Living Will – Living Wills allow you to determine if you would like to receive life-sustaining treatment in case you become terminally ill or unconscious.  However, Living Wills have now been replaced by The Advanced Health Care Directive which is now the recognized format for a Living Will in California.  An Advanced Health Care Directive not only allows you to determine if you would like to receive life sustaining medical treatment, it also allows you to make a wide range of other important health care decisions as discussed under Advanced Health Care Directives.

Trusts are an important part of Estate Planning that can be used to minimize taxes.  If used properly, Trusts can completely avoid the need for a probate proceeding which is often very expensive.  Trusts are more expensive to create than a Will; however, they can offer a significant advantage to your beneficiaries by lowering the amount of estate taxes that will have to be paid and your heirs will receive the property much sooner than they would if the property had to go through a probate process.

Irrevocable Trusts – Irrevocable Trusts come in several different forms but their creation is usually motivated by tax purposes.   For instance, a Charitable Remainder Trusts can be set up to provide benefits to a named individual for a period of time, with the remainder passing to a charity of the clients’ choosing.  Charitable Remainder Trusts can have significant tax advantages if drafted carefully and can provide a large income tax deduction for the gift to charity.

A Special Needs Trust is an Irrevocable Trust that can be set up for beneficiaries that have special needs such as beneficiaries who suffer from a disability. Special Needs Trusts can be a great Estate Planning tool: When used properly, they allow the beneficiary to receive continued government assistance while having the trust fund available to him or her should the beneficiary need to use it. Please call us if you would like to know more about Irrevocable Trusts.

Revocable Trusts – A Revocable Trust allows the creator to transfer property into the Trust during his or her lifetime and can avoid the need for a court proceeding (probate) to transfer the property to the designated beneficiaries.  Unlike an Irrevocable Trust which can only be revoked in very specific narrow circumstances, a Revocable Trust can be freely revoked by the creator(s) of the Trust.

Revocable Trusts, also known as Revocable Living Trusts are not only used for the purposes of property transfer at death but also, they can be used to manage a person’s assets in case they become incapacitated.  When the creator of a Revocable Trust becomes incapacitated, the person named by the creator as the successor Trustee will take control of the assets of the Trust and will use the money for the benefit of the incapacitated creator of the Trust.  This can save time and expense because the successor Trustee will be able to manage the incapacitated person’s property without the need for a court proceeding.

A Power of Attorney (POA) allows the Client (Principle) to name an Agent to act on his behalf in case the client becomes incapacitated and is no longer able to act on his own behalf.  Powers of Attorney fall into two major categories including: Powers of Attorney for Finance, and Powers of Attorney for Medical Decisions.   Powers of Attorney for finance are an important part of an Estate Plan because it allows the client to choose an Agent to manage their finances in case he or she becomes incapacitated.   Powers of Attorney for Medical Decisions are also a very important part of a client’s estate plan and can be achieved by creating a POA for Medical Decisions or by creating an Advance Health Care Directive.  For further discussion of Powers of Attorney for Finance, see Durable POA, Limited POA, and General POA listed below.  For a further discussion on Medical Powers or Attorney, see Medical POA and Advanced Health Care Directives listed below.

Durable POA – A Durable Power of Attorney usually refers to a POA for Financial Affairs and generally becomes effective immediately upon execution.  Many Attorneys believe executing a Durable POA that is immediately effective is preferable.  A POA that does not become effective until a person’s incapacity can create problems because it is often difficult to determine when a person becomes incapacitated.
If a Power of Attorney is not a Durable Power of Attorney then, it is considered to be a Springing Power of Attorney.  Springing Powers of Attorney only gives the Agent authority to act at a specified future time or on the occurrence of a specific future event such as the client’s incapacity.

Medical POA – Medical Powers of Attorney have been replaced by Advanced Health Care Directives which have become the legally recognized instrument for choosing an Agent to make health care decisions.  The Advanced Health Care Directive allows you to make more decisions about how you want your Agent to act under specific circumstances than a traditional Medical POA would allow.  For more information on Advanced Health Care Directives, please see the tab below.

Limited POA – A Power of Attorney is considered to be a General Power of Attorney unless it is specifically limited by the instrument creating it.  The Client may limit an Agents authority to act on their behalf by restricting the Agent’s ability to sell certain property or may limit an Agent’s authority to conduct only specific acts.  A Limited Power of Attorney is also commonly used by a property owner who is located in another state during the closing of escrow and gives the Agent the authority to sign on his or her behalf.

General POA – General Powers of Attorney are the most common form of POA for Financial matters.  General Powers of Attorney give the Agent broad authority to act on the Principle’s behalf.  General Powers of Attorney may be limited to some degree but, a Limited Power of Attorney should be used if you wish to limit the authority of your Agent.

Advanced Health Care Directives are now the legally recognized form of Powers of Attorney for Health Care in California.  Advanced Health Care Directives allow you to make sure your health care wishes are known and considered by the person who you get to appoint as your Agent.  Your Agent, who is also known as an Attorney-In-Fact, is able to make medical decisions for you in the case you become incapacitated and are no longer able to make those decisions for yourself.  You may also give your Agent specific instructions that tells them how to handle certain situations such as organ and tissue donation, or the continuance of life support.  Advanced Health Care Directives are also sometimes referred to as a Medical Directive or an Advanced Medical Directive but, Advanced Health Care Directive is the preferred title.