Attention all of you Trustees of Living Trusts and children beneficiaries of the Trust- This case is a wake-up call. You know how you might want to punish a step-mother or step-father for becoming a life partner or spouse to your widowed mom or dad. Once the natural parent is out of the picture many…
In light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court case of Clark v. Rameker, creditors will begin to zero in on Inherited IRAs. What is an Inherited IRA? These are IRAs inherited by non-spouse beneficiaries. Typically, spouses rollover IRAs and become the IRA owner if they are designated as the beneficiary. But non-spouse beneficiaries do not…
If you like gambling with cards, don’t carry that over to your designated IRA or Retirement fund beneficiaries. We all know a full house trumps a straight in poker. But did you know this, a Retirement form trumps a Will or Trust? That’s right. If you are considering the designation of your Retirement fund in…
The following was written by Attorney Jack E. Stephens, for the professional manual, Rules of Trust Administration in California, regarding the admistration of a Living Trust on the death of a Trustor. This is Part 1 of an ongoing series. Family Contact On the death of a client we are normally contacted within a relatively short…
Many clients are confused regarding the use of Durable Powers of Attorney in their Estate Plan. In California we have two separate documents, the Healthcare Power of Attorney, known as the Advanced Healthcare Directive (AHCD). The Financial Power of Attorney is called the Uniform Durable Power of Attorney (UDPA). The AHCD is essential for healthcare…
Okay, put down the remote and give me 5 minutes. We need to talk about Estate Planning with your home and possibly other real property. Would you like the Court to take away your home; would you prefer to die in a lonely nursing facility and not in your home; would you care that a…
A Step By Step Approach Part I When it comes to taking care of estate planning business, most clients are paralyzed by procrastination. Procrastination has cost the American public more than any tax bill ever enacted. We can hear something or see something that we, admittedly, need to accomplish for the benefit of ourselves or…