Estate Planning

Estate planning involves the careful creation of legal documents that protect someone about later in life and the people that they love after that. Given that you have to consider your future death, you may have avoided creating an estate plan or rushed through the...

Every adult in California would benefit from having an estate plan. Even those who think about their dependents and their future deaths often stop after creating a will that explains what to do with their property or names a guardian for their children. They may not...

As an adult, you know the most responsible thing you can do is to create an estate plan, which includes a will. However, when it comes to understanding everything involved, there are a lot of complicated terms and legalese you must wade through. When creating your...

Getting an estate plan established is difficult for some individuals because it forces them to acknowledge that they won’t live forever. It might be even more uncomfortable for those individuals to discuss their estate plans with their loved ones.  While there are...

A big part of making an estate plan, if you're a parent and your children are not yet adults, is picking a guardian. Many people tend to just focus on the financial side of the process, but deciding who is going to care for your children is likely far more important...

Trusts are one way that you can get the assets to your loved ones after you pass away. Since they bypass the probate process, they can be a faster way to get things handed out. Before you set up the trusts and fund them, you need to learn about what protections and...

You don't have an estate plan yet, but you know that you're going to need one. You have a lot of company. The fact of the matter is that most Americans have not even done their estate planning yet, despite the fact that they will someday need a will. One of the...

Some people want to keep their estate plan as simple as possible and only draft a will. Even those who protect themselves with a more comprehensive plan that includes a living will or powers of attorney may decide against adding a trust without much consideration.  A...

Your estate plan helps you support your loved ones after you die and leave something meaningful for different people. You may have invested a lot of time and consideration to find the right way to split your property fairly or to earmark specific family heirlooms for...

If you already have an estate plan in place, you may feel confident that it will always meet your needs. However, certain milestones in your life may weaken your arrangements if you do not reexamine your situation. If you have not created an estate plan, it is wise to...