Estate Administration & Probate

As one year ends and another begins it is a time to review the past and look to and plan for the future in California. Future plans may include setting up an estate plan or revising an existing plan. If a trust is involved, an important decision must be made that will...

People in California are becoming aware of the importance of estate planning due in part to the number of prominent people who have recently passed away without having one. The lack of a plan can cause chaos and tie up an estate in probate for years. Simply having an...

Baby boomers are retiring at an astonishing rate in California. Now in their 50s and 60s, many baby boomers are stepping back from careers to enjoy grandchildren, golf and other retirement pursuits. One issue they may need to pay attention to is their estate plans....

Estate planning in California can seem like a large, complicated process that is filled with unfamiliar terms. Words like power of attorney, wills, executors, trusts and probate can sound intimidating if one doesn't understand what they mean. Perhaps one of the less...

One does not need to be a celebrity in California to recognize that if a person has a sizable estate, that person should have an estate plan in place. The plan typically includes a will and appropriate trusts. If trusts are used in place of a will, this may allow the...

There are many pieces to an estate plan in California. Many of these involve assets to be distributed to beneficiaries following a person's death. Some of these assets are subject to probate and some are not. Typically, the assets that have a named beneficiary...

After a death in the family, someone will likely be chosen to handle the bulk of the person's estate. When the individual has a comprehensive estate plan with an allocated executor, estate administration can be less stressful for the person doing the work,...

Hopefully, when a person dies he or she has left behind a set of instructions for the survivors to disburse and distribute the assets. Unfortunately, some individuals die intestate, or without a will, and those assets are distributed according to California state law...

Over the years, a person is likely to amass a pile of stuff, both physically and on paper. When the time comes for estate planning, many people will choose to streamline and organize their estate to make estate administration easier for the person in charge. By...

As a society, individuals are creating and using digital data more than ever before. It has been said that between the years of 2012 and 2014, humans produce more data than human civilization has ever produced in the history of time before that. In California, after a...