Trusts and wills address different aspects of your estate and serve different purposes. As such, you should include both documents in your estate plan to meet various needs.

Most common estate plans include the following:

Last Will and Testament

Power of Attorney

Living Trust

Medical Directives

Beneficiary Designations

The person whom you have chosen as Trustee (Most commonly a family member) will yes, be in control after your passing.

Our experienced attorney will immediately begin preparing an estate plan catered to your needs and circumstances.

If someone dies intestate (without a will) in California, the state's succession laws will determine who inherits their property. This is not ideal because the deceased no longer controls who gets and how much one gets from their estate when they die.

While you can do it on your own, it’s better to get the help of a professional. If you don’t have the correct legal training and experience, there is a risk that you could write a will that isn’t legally binding. If you miss something, the will could be no good. Our lawyer will make certain that the will follows all state requirements.

Probate is the legal process that often happens after someone dies, whether or not that person left a last will and testament. Probate ties up property for months, and sometimes for longer than a year. It can also be very costly.

A power of attorney, sometimes referred to simply as a POA, is a legal instrument that can grant a designated person the power to make decisions on behalf of someone else.

Like a power of attorney, a guardianship allows someone else to act as if they were you. Unlike a power of attorney, a guardianship must be ordered by a judge. A guardianship is similar to a parent/child relationship, except that a guardian is not legally responsible for the acts of the other person. Also, guardians do not have to use their own money to provide for the other. A guardian can make personal decisions for the other, like where they will live. Guardianships are ordered when someone can no longer take care of themselves or a minor under their control. Guardianships may be granted to take care of adults or children.

Having an estate plan allows you to control What Happens to Your Assets When You Die. If you don't have an estate plan in place in the event you become incapacitated, it will take a costly court action to get a California court to appoint a guardian to make decisions for you. Likewise, if you die without an estate plan, the courts also have control over how your assets are distributed among your family. In both cases, the court's decision may not be what you would have chosen, had you prepared an estate plan.

You can provide for your pets’ care when you make a will by naming a “pet guardian,” a.k.a. a beneficiary for your pet. Since pets are seen as property under the law, they’re a part of your estate, just like any other property you own. Because of this, you can use your will to leave them as a gift to someone, just like you would with any other property.

Although you may be grieving, it is imperative that certain things be taken care of immediately to protect the estate of your loved one. Below are a few suggestions:

Secure certified copies of death certificates. Get 10 copies.

Find the will and the executor.

Meet with a trusts and estates attorney.

Contact a CPA.

Take the will to probate.

Make an inventory of all assets.

Track down assets.

Make a list of bills.

Yes, you can include philanthropy in your estate plan by building a directive into your will to donate a specific amount of money to a particular organization. Depending on the size of your donation, you might want to consider creating a trust to maintain some control over how the funds are used.

Disputes can lead to financial losses, broken relationships, and damaged reputations. Depending on the situation, we will help you litigate or defend against a trust dispute claim.

In California, there is no state-level estate or inheritance tax. If you are a California resident, you do not need to worry about paying an inheritance tax on the money you inherit from a deceased individual. However, you will still need to be concerned about federal taxes if you inherit assets from a deceased friend or loved one. For federal taxes, the IRS will not treat your inheritance as income. There is no federal inheritance tax, per se, but a federal estate tax could affect you. California does not impose an estate tax, but the federal government does. As of this writing, there is a $10 million exemption for federal estate taxes. This exemption is indexed to inflation and is currently $11,700,000. Only people who passed away with an estate over this amount will need to pay federal estate taxes.

A trust greatly expands your options when it comes to managing your assets, whether you’re trying to shield your wealth from taxes or pass it on to your children. Many people create trusts to minimize hassles and fees for their loved ones, or to create a legacy of charitable giving.

This written document outlines your health care wishes for end-of-life care if you become terminally ill and cannot make these decisions on your own. It tells your medical providers the medical treatments you may or may not want if you’re permanently unconscious or at the end of a terminal illness, including how long you want your life prolonged. It might also include your religious preferences.

An advance directive is a set of instructions that outlines your health care wishes. It, too, is used when severe medical situations occur and you're not able to communicate your wishes. Unlike the living will, however, an advance directive isn’t limited to terminal illness. It may also include medical events such as dementia, stroke or coma.

Yes! Whether you are single, married, have kids or own any amount of personal assets or property, you should have a will. A will guarantees how you want your estate handled after your passing. If there are no living relatives to lay claim to your property, it will be turned over to the state.

Your "Estate" is comprised of the property you owned before you died. This includes all land and real estate, possessions, financial securities, cash, and other assets that the individual owns or has a controlling interest in.