Many California families ask how estate planning techniques support long-term goals. Estate planning involves more than drafting a will or creating a simple trust. It may also include strategies that align financial decisions with your family priorities, personal values, and future plans. Your long-term goals may include protecting children, supporting charitable causes, preparing for incapacity, minimizing disputes, or preserving wealth across generations. Estate planning techniques … [Read more...] about How Do Estate Planning Techniques Support Long Term Goals
Estate Planning
The Seedier Side of the Holiday Season
Scammers will use any leverage possible to separate you from your money. This includes preying upon a grandparent’s love and concern for their grandchildren. The so-called grandparent scams are among the most popular scams targeting the elderly and rely upon details gleaned from social media sites to make the call seem realistic. It’s important to recognize the signs of potential scams and understand how to guard against them. My friend and colleague Tereina Stidd, an estate planning expert, has … [Read more...] about The Seedier Side of the Holiday Season
New Year’s Estate Planning Tasks
New Year's estate planning tasks will help you and your family as you make changes in your lives. According to CBS News, around half of Americans make resolutions, yet many people don't follow through. Only around 25% of people who created a New Year's resolution were still working on it after a month. Only ten percent of people end up accomplishing the objective they set for themselves. Creating or updating your estate plan should be at the top of your list of goals for 2026. This is … [Read more...] about New Year’s Estate Planning Tasks
Estate Planning: There’s Something Here for Everyone – Part I
Despite knowing that they should have an estate plan, many individuals give excuses for failing to create an Estate Plan. They may rely upon advice from seemingly well-intentioned individuals that if they do not have a taxable estate, they don’t need a plan, or that each state has its own set of rules regarding distribution that gives assets to beneficiaries upon death. Some folks go so far as to suggest methods to avoid probate without truly considering the impact of those suggestions. This … [Read more...] about Estate Planning: There’s Something Here for Everyone – Part I
Are Irrevocable Trusts Really Irrevocable? – Part II
In this second installment concerning modification options for irrevocable trusts, we examine decanting. In the third and final part in the series reviews the use of a Trust Protector to modify an otherwise irrevocable trust. Unlike judicial and nonjudicial modification or the use of a Trust Protector, decanting relies upon powers that already exist in the trust. When the Trustee decants, the Trustee exercises their power to distribute trust assets and moves the assets from the existing trust … [Read more...] about Are Irrevocable Trusts Really Irrevocable? – Part II
The Seedier Side of the Holiday Season
Scammers will use any leverage possible to separate you from your money. This includes preying upon a grandparent’s love and concern for their grandchildren. The so-called grandparent scams are among the most popular scams targeting the elderly and rely upon details gleaned from social media sites to make the call seem realistic. It’s important to recognize the signs of potential scams and understand how to guard against them. My friend and colleague Tereina Stidd, an estate planning expert, has … [Read more...] about The Seedier Side of the Holiday Season
The Horrors of Dying Intestate
Many souls believe that if they lack means, they do not need an Estate Plan. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you die without an Estate Plan, it’s like opting for a trick on Halloween and the results of both can be downright scary. My friend and colleague Tereina Stidd, digs into this scary issue. Read on to learn more. … [Read more...] about The Horrors of Dying Intestate
The Seedier Side of the Holiday Season
Scammers will use any leverage possible to separate you from your money. This includes preying upon a grandparent’s love and concern for their grandchildren. The so-called grandparent scams are among the most popular scams targeting the elderly and rely upon details gleaned from social media sites to make the call seem realistic. It’s important to recognize the signs of potential scams and understand how to guard against them. My friend and colleague Tereina Stidd, an estate planning expert, has … [Read more...] about The Seedier Side of the Holiday Season
Why New Parents Need an Estate Plan More Than Ever
After adding a baby to your family, life gets crazy in the most wonderful of ways. You have a lot of new tasks on your to-do list to take care of your new bundle of joy. Those tasks probably center around feedings, laundry, and diapers. However, you must also do something else, which is just as important as all the hands-on care you’re offering. You need to make an estate plan to ensure that your new child will be provided for no matter what happens to you. Here are a few key reasons why … [Read more...] about Why New Parents Need an Estate Plan More Than Ever
A Message from the Murdochs
Art often imitates life and the latest drama surrounding Rupert Murdoch demonstrates that. Most of the time, when an individual creates an irrevocable trust, they part with dominion and control over the assets, and it is difficult to change the terms. As explained by my friend and colleague Tereina Stidd, an estate planning expert, not long ago, Rupert Murdoch filed a petition in Nevada probate court to change the terms of an irrevocable trust that was originally created in 1999. Read on to … [Read more...] about A Message from the Murdochs
