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A trust is commonly referred to as a estate plan. This document encompasses the following six parts: a trust, a will, a durable power of attorney for finance, a durable power of attorney for health care, HIPAA, and schedules. Each of these documents have different functions and work in combination with one another to offer you full protection for your assets. Different law firms take different times to create a comprehensive estate plan. Most law firms should not take mor

One document used to indicate where your assets should go upon your demise is called a holographic will. This type of will is usually written when someone is on his deathbed. There are two witnesses required for type of will and it is written in the handwriting of the creator of the will. It does not need to be written formally however, it can be written on a napkin. For example, “Jane gets everything I own” written on napkin constitutes a holographic will if witnessed by

Differences between trusts versus corporations: There are many reasons that people corporations, but one of the primary reasons is for asset protection. The problem with corporations is that you must register your corporation with the Secretary of State and inform them who the president, treasury, secretary, and agent for service of process are for the corporation. If there is any commingling of your personal and corporate assets, or if it considered an alter ego or sham co

A land trust is a trust usually used to protect real estate investments. There are three parties involved with the creation of a land trust: the grantor (sets up the trust and transfers assets into the trust), the trustee (manages the trust), and the beneficiary (receives the assets of the trust, or has the beneficial interest – usually this person is the same as the grantor). There are multiple benefits to using a land trust: protect from “due on sale” clauses, avoiding pro

Special Needs Trusts (SNTs) Unfortunately, the use of SNTs is sometimes hard to understand. A special needs trust (SNT) is usually established for an individual that has a mental or physical disability that will not allow for him/her to engage in any gainful activity by reason of medical or physical impairment that will lead to death or which has lasted or will be expected to last at least 12 months (42 USC section 1382C(a)3(A). The main purpose of establishing an SNT is to

Can a trust protect my assets? Yes, a trust can be used to protect assets. However, the trust must have some asset protections measures incorporated into it. The asset protection measures vary amongst trust attorneys. They must be tailored to your particular situation. Don’t marry a gold digger….creating a post-nuptial agreement! In California, a gold digger is as common as a leaf on a tree. Everywhere you turn, you will see one! The gold digger can be a man or a woman.

Unfortunately, in the state of California, there is a 75% divorce rate. Some experts are predicting that this rate increases over the next 5-10 years. The people who are going through a divorce are not only young people. In our practice, we see people who have been married 30 years or more, and people who have been married less than 10 years electing for divorce. We are also seeing the “young” people never get married in the first place. The young people (20-32 years old