Pleasanton Estate Planning Attorney

Perhaps you are an adult child of a parent who relies on you for input and guidance. If that sounds like you, I respect your effort, and personally know exactly what it’s like to be in that role. You want to be sure that you find an attorney that really knows what he or she is doing so they can make the process as easy and hassle-free as possible. You also likely want to be sure the attorney will be fair and transparent with the legal fees involved, and be there after the fact when your family needs support; or

Perhaps you have worked with other attorneys in the past who made the process too complex or difficult to understand, were slow to respond to questions or concerns, or who valued their hourly billings more than their client relationships. You are ready to have an attorney you can count on who values integrity above all else.

You want to leave a meaningful legacy behind when you are gone, instead of leaving behind a burden for your loved ones or a stressful series of messes to clean up. Perhaps this topic has been a concern for many years now, and you are ready to work with a trusted professional to experience the peace of mind that comes along with completing your estate plan;

Trusts come in many “flavors,” they can be simple or complex, and serve a variety of legal, personal, investment or tax planning purposes. At the most basic level, a trust is a legal entity with at least three parties involved: the trust-maker, the trustee (trust manager), and the trust beneficiary. Oftentimes, it is the same person or married couple occupying all three of those roles. In the case of a revocable living trust, for example, a person may create a trust (the trust-maker) and name themselves the current trustees (trust managers) who manage the trust assets for their own benefit (trust beneficiary), with instructions on who will receive the trust property after the trust-maker dies, and on what terms. Depending on the situation, there may be many advantages to establishing a trust, including avoiding probate court. In most cases, assets owned in a revocable living trust will pass to the trust beneficiaries (or heirs) immediately upon the death of the trust-maker(s) with no probate required. Certain trusts also may result in tax advantages both for the trust-maker and the beneficiary. Or they may be used to protect property from creditors, lawsuits, divorce, or simply to provide for someone else to manage and invest property for the trust-maker(s) and the named beneficiaries. If well drafted, another advantage of trusts is their continuing effectiveness even if the trust-maker dies or becomes incapacitated.

An advance directive is a document that specifies the type of medical and personal care you would want should you lose the ability to make and communicate your own decisions. Anyone over the age of 18 may execute an advance directive, and this document is legally binding in California. Your advance directive can specify who will make and communicate decisions for you, and it can set out the circumstances under which you would not like your life to be prolonged if, for example, you were in a coma with no reasonable chance of recovery. A document that goes hand-in-hand with your advance directive is an authorization to your medical providers to allow specified individuals to access your medical information. Without this authorization, your doctor may refuse to communicate with your hand-picked decision maker. Proper estate planning is a process that is best accomplished by working with an estate planning attorney. The stakes are too high to risk trying to take shortcuts, and problems with an estate plan do not surface until someone becomes incapacitated or dies (and by that time, it is usually to late to fix those problems). Our Pleasanton estate planning attorney has helped hundreds of families and makes the process simple and easy. We serve clients throughout the Bay Area and Central Valley of California, either at our main office in Pleasanton, at one of our Satellite offices (see the bottom of any page on this website for a list), or at your home or office.

Your last will and testament is just one part of a comprehensive estate plan. If a person dies without a Will they are said to have died “intestate” and state laws will determine how and to whom the person’s assets will be distributed. Some things you should know about wills: - A will has no legal authority until after death. So, a will does not help manage a person’s affairs when they are incapacitated, whether by illness or injury. - A will does not help an estate avoid probate. A will is the legal document submitted to the probate court, so it is basically an “admission ticket” to probate. - A will is a good place to nominate the guardians (or back-up parents) of your minor children if they are orphaned. All parents of minor children should document their choice of guardians. If you leave this to chance, you could be setting up a family battle royal, and your children could end up with the wrong guardians.

A power of attorney is a legal document giving another person (the attorney-in-fact) the legal right (powers) to do certain things for you. What those powers are depends on the terms of the document. A power of attorney may be very broad or very limited and specific. All powers of attorney terminate upon the death of the maker, and may terminate when the maker (principal) becomes incapacitated (unable to make or communicate decisions). When the intent is to designate a back-up decision-maker in the event of incapacity, then a durable power of attorney should be used. Durable Powers of Attorney should be frequently updated because banks and other financial institutions may hesitate to honor a power of attorney that is more than a year old.

If held in brokerage form, you will simply sign a change of ownership form with the financial institution. If held in physical certificate form, you will assign the stock into your trust via a written document and request that the transfer agent issue you a new certificate.

You sign a document that sets forth you intention to create a trust, and all relevant terms.

You will assign your interest in the business into your trust via an assignment document. If it a corporation, new share certificates should also be issued. If it is an LLC, the Operating Agreement should reflect the trust as the new owner.

We have many clients I’ve have prepared trusts for when they are single (or following a divorce) that hold all of their separate property. When and if they later remarry, they typically keep those trusts intact, and will create a new, separate trust or will that addresses the community property assets they acquire with their new spouse.

You sign a new signature card and a change of ownership form with the bank.

You sign a new change of beneficiary form adding your trust as a beneficiary of life insurance proceeds.

If your property is residential property with less than 5 dwelling units, your lender cannot accelerate your loan by law when you transfer it to a trust, and you therefore do not need to notify them or obtain permission.

You sign an amendment that updates the terms of your trust and replaces the old provisions.

Yes. You should have a short will referred to as a “pour-over will” that directs any miscellaneous assets left in your name at death into your trust. The pour-over will acts as a safety net to make sure all of your assets pass as you intend.

You simply take title to the new property in the name of your trust at the time of acquisition, or transfer it to your trust shortly after the fact.

In most cases that is very risky and not recommended. Virtually all such offerings are do-it-yourself websites that simply prepare documents based on your direction. They offer no legal advice and specifically state that in the disclaimers. That means there are no assurances the documents are worth anything more than the paper they are printed on. That said, many people these days prefer doing transactions online wherever possible. Fortunately, my firm has filled a gap in the marketplace and created an online interview that allows you to create a living trust online and work with our firm virtually. It costs a bit more than the do-it-yourself websites, and for good reason. You get comprehensive legal advice and guidance from me every step of the way to make sure your trust suits your situation and actually works when the time comes. Our documents are also much more sophisticated and complete.

None at all. You file your taxes under your social security number just as you always have.

You should meet with an attorney licensed in your new state to look at amending the terms of the trust to reflect the laws of your new state.

Approximately 4 weeks from your initial consultation. I have also created them in shorter timeframes (as short as next day) when the circumstances required it.

In most cases, at least in California, married couples will create one trust. The trust will hold their community assets as well as any separate property assets. It is important to list any separate property on its own schedule, and be sure the trust document states that separate property remains separate upon transfer to the trust. In some cases however, if there is significant separate property involved or considerably different desired outcomes for each spouse, having separate trusts makes more sense.

Someone caring and resourceful that you trust. It could be a family member or friend. They don’t need any special knowledge or skills, but they should have good judgment, know your values, and be able to work with professionals as needed. It is important to name one or more backups in case your first choice is not available or predeceases you. This is especially trust if your first choice is considerably older than you. For those who wish to hire professionals to step in after they pass away, there are individual licensed fiduciaries and trust companies who can fill that role. They can also be named as co-trustees to act alongside a family member or friend.

We will prepare and record a new deed from your individual name(s), into your trust.

You can sell property as desired just as you can do now. The only difference is that it will say “trustee” next to your name on the deed or other document. Also, as you may recall from the incapacity discussion above, the trust allows the successor trustee to sell property if needed during a time you are mentally or physically incapacitated, which is not possible when property is in your individual name.

Retirement accounts such as a 401k, 403b, or IRA should not be transferred to your trust due to tax consequences. In some cases, naming your trust as a beneficiary of such an account upon your death makes good sense, but that should be only done upon the advice of an experienced estate planning or tax attorney.

Without the needed legal documents, it’s likely that the court would have to appoint a conservator to act on your behalf if you were unable do so due to mental or physical incapacity. Conservatorship proceedings are public, costly, and time-consuming processes where every transaction taken on your behalf is scrutinized by the court. It’s the last place your loved ones want to be.

Without a will or living trust, state law will typically determine who inherits your property. This may not be who you would want. Moreover, the mere fact that you probably don’t even know the outcome as you read this should be a cause for concern in and of itself. Besides having no control over who receives your property, you also give up any ability to dictate how they can use it or who they are able to give it to down the line. That can be concerning for several reasons, such as a spouse who is worried about a surviving spouse’s potential remarriage, or a parent who is unsure about their children’s ability to handle property or money left behind for them.

This one sounds pretty intuitive. If an attorney suggests a course of action for your estate plan that makes you feel uncomfortable or that you are losing control, that probably is not a great estate plan for you.