U.S. v. Harris

In a recent case that reached the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Court ruled that assets in Third-Party Spendthrift Trusts (Family Trusts) are not necessarily protected from creditor claims or federal liens against a designated beneficiary. What does this mean for California estate planning? The beneficiary in question, Michael Harris, had two…

Trust Protector Provisions – Frequently Asked Questions

Trust Protector Provisions – Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are Trust Protector Provisions? Trust Protector Provisions are optional provisions that can be included in your Trust. I created our Trust Protector Provisions in order to prevent a Trustee or Successor Trustee from abusing their powers as Trustee and to mediate beneficiary conflict. The Trust Protector is only involved if called upon to…

Perpetuating “Conflict of Interest” by Financial Companies – Revisited

Note: Please see my blog posted On August 1, 2016 for original article. President Trump signed an executive order which will ultimately nullify the new regulation which was to go into effect in April. That regulation would have required financial planners to place client’s interests first in recommending products. As a result, the continual policies…

NEW Medi-Cal Laws

Effective January 1, 2017 Medi-Cal Recovery (SB 833) For Medi-Cal recipients who die on or after January 1, 2017, there are significant changes in the law. The most significant impacts the limitations on recovery of funds by the state of California after the death of the Medi-Cal recipient. For Estate Planning purposes, the best news…

Utilize a Living Trust as Asset Protection from Medi-Cal Claims

In a new law to go into effect January 1, 2017, a Living Trust may be utilized to protect assets from Medi-Cal claims for individuals dying after that date. This is a revolutionary law that elevates the advantages of a Living Trust in California to a new high. Previously, a Living Trust provided no protection…

Powers of Attorney Update

Time and time again we see cases of inadequate powers of attorney which fail to provide sufficient authority to act. These documents usually obtained on-line through legal providers or Trust mills provide generic, basic provisions that can fall short of a client’s needs. The recent case of Metlife Insurance Company v. Sumner is an example….

Perpetuating “Conflict of Interest” by Financial Companies

As a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), we were alerted to a new regulatory law being proposed by the Obama Administration. It bears directly on your investments, which are determined by financial advisors for many of us. As an attorney, I must place the interest of my client first. I…

Contractual Theft

As indicated in an article I wrote on May 3, 2016 regarding the withholding of death benefits by insurance companies, there have been some new developments. The insurance industry has had a long standing policy of holding death benefits if they were not contacted by the beneficiary. In other words, the burden was placed on…