The answer is Yes, absolutely. Our firm represents Administrators and Executors who live outside of California all the time. Our Estate Administrators (also called Executors) live all over the country in fact – Pennsylvania, Florida, Oregon, New Jersey, New York, Indiana, and so forth. Many of them also don’t have the time to travel to...Read More

-by Kurt Rifbjerg, Esq. The global onset of COVID-19 may impact a person’s ability to execute a formal, comprehensive estate plan.    While our firm remains open and willing to help clients create and revise their estate plans as a legal necessity during these troubling times, we recognize that not everyone may be able to...Read More

The New York Times recently took the opportunity to highlight this question in an article based on the hotly litigated estate of French celebrity Johnny Hallyday. The Hallyday family is currently fighting over whether or not his estate should pass according to French probate law or California probate law. California allows freedom to distribute assets...Read More

Vanity Fair recently published a new article, “It is Not a Coincidence: With 75 million on the line, the Redstone Family declares Sumner incompetent.” If you’re unfamiliar, Sumner Redstone is the Hollywood Mogul billionaire at the helm of a media empire that includes CBS and Viacom. For the past several years, Sumner has been at...Read More

A favorite gimmick of estate planning articles today are based on numbers – “8 things to protect your assets,” “10 Steps to write your will“, “6 Reasons to update your Trust,” etc. My favorite read is “17 Reasons to Update your Will” – thank you San Francisco Symphony!  If this wasn’t the exact area of...Read More

The Hollywood Reporter notes that despite Jurassic World’s box office success, the newest installment “has trouble finding something to say beyond what ‘Jurassic Park’ already did 25 years ago.” I beg to differ. Jurassic World highlights some important estate planning issues in a fun filled, action packed, dinosaur laden 90 minutes. SPOILER ALERT! Ok, so...Read More

David Cassidy, known as Keith Partridge in the popular show The Partridge Family and a teen heartthrob in the 1970s, died of organ failure in Fort Lauderdale on November 21, 2017 at the age of 67. He had been hospitalized with liver and kidney failure the week prior to his death and passed away surrounded...Read More

The New York Times just published a question and answer in its “Social Q’s” section regarding the legal validity of an unsigned Will. Another recent article referenced a Will written in a draft text message. Naturally the text also remained unsigned. The text message was approved as a valid will by an Australian court. In...Read More

Chapter Two continues the unhappy saga of the troubles of Tom Clancy’s estate. The main players in this drama are the two wives of Tom Clancy; his first wife, Wanda King, who was married to him for 30 years, and his second wife and widow, Alexandra Clancy, married to him for 14 years. The drama...Read More

What is a no-contest clause and why is it added to a will or trust? In Latin it is known as an “in terrorem” clause, which means that the clause is inserted as a threat or warning to those beneficiaries of a will or trust who would seek to challenge the estate plan after death....Read More

Does the word “estate” in estate planning make you turn a deaf ear to the whole concept of financial planning?  Maybe you feel like “estate” planning doesn’t apply to you because your home doesn’t look like an estate, and your bank account is rather ordinary.  But if you look at it that way, you may...Read More

Conservatorship (called Guardianship for minors) becomes necessary in a variety of circumstances, most commonly due to a lack of mental capacity. When a Conservatorship is needed, someone must step in to fulfill the role of Conservator. A Conservator is charged with the (often difficult) task of caring for the well being of another. Acting as...Read More

For most families, setting up a trust to hold one’s property or bank accounts is a prudent step. But when your assets are in the hundreds of millions, setting up a trust (or trusts) is seldom simply an item on your to-do list – it’s a must.  As many of you already know, Fox News...Read More

Embed from Getty Images       Michael Jackson’s Mother claims Elder Abuse: What are her legal options? Michael Jackson’s 86 year old mother Katherine filed legal documents Wednesday claiming her former driver and nephew in law, Trent Jackson, had subjected her to years of elder abuse. She requested a restraining order, which was temporarily...Read More

Updated 2/25/2021 When a parent dies who has had the forethought to establish a trust, the probate process can be avoided, which can be time-consuming and costly.   Now, let’s assume that the parent/trustee  has real property in California and has named a successor trustee whose job it is to ensure that the property is...Read More

On a recent trip to visit family friends, I had the opportunity to hear the story of a dear friend’s older sister who had recently passed away. My friend was kind enough to allow me to share that story here. As I do not share the personal stories of my clients, I felt this was...Read More

Most of us will never need to know the ins and outs of the Criminal Court System, the Civil Court system, and maybe not even the family law system. But almost all of us will encounter Probate Law. Why? Because at some point, someone in your family or close circle of friends will die –...Read More

The simple answer: After you die. From a financial perspective, it is generally advantageous to gift property upon your death. However, when making a decision about how best to leave real property to your children there are several important factors to consider.  If you plan to keep living in the property, first and foremost is...Read More

Elder abuse is a far more common occurrence than most people think. According to the National Council on Aging, 1 in 10 Americans aged 60+ have experienced elder abuse. Elder abuse can include physical abuse, emotional abuse, financial exploitation, neglect, and deprivation. Elder financial abuse, which can involve the misuse, misappropriation, or withholding of the older...Read More

The timeline for completing the trust administration process varies widely depending upon the circumstances of the case. Administering a trust of a married couple when one spouse passes away, for example, can be completed in a few short months. Settlement of a large trust with multiple beneficiaries can be more complex and thus take longer...Read More

A good friend recently brought to my attention the story of the “Tractor Will.” In 1948, a man in Saskatchewan carved out his will in the fender of a tractor using a pocket knife. According to witnesses, Cecil George Harris was trapped underneath his tractor for over 10 hours during a winter storm. His short...Read More

While we always consider what will happen to our children when we are no longer there to care for them, our pets are potentially left just as vulnerable when we die.  Currently, under California law your dog or cat is viewed no differently than your car or your sofa.  Pets have no rights and no...Read More

Once you’ve executed a Power of Attorney, can you change it? The answer is YES. If you change your mind about the person you chose to make decisions for you under a durable power of attorney, you can change it. In order to make changes to your Power of Attorney, however, you must have Legal...Read More

What function can life insurance serve as part of your estate plan?   Prior to the big changes in estate tax laws, life insurance was commonly put into place to pay estate taxes. No longer necessary, as estates can exempt $5.45 million for each individual from what used to be called the “death tax”, life...Read More

1. If you already have an Estate Plan, Get a New One In most cases, getting a divorce will essentially invalidate your Trust or Will if you have one. However, it should be noted that your former Will or Trust will only be invalid once the divorce is finalized. Simply filing for divorce changes nothing...Read More

What is the role of a Professional Fiduciary in the context of California probate law? And just what is a Professional Fiduciary?  Let’s first define Professional Fiduciary, as it’s not a profession that is particularly well known. A professional fiduciary has two primary roles within probate law. The first is as someone whose job is to...Read More

WHITNEY HOUSTON, FLORENCE GRIFFITH JOYNER, HEATH LEDGER Earlier this year I wrote about the Celebrity Estate Planning Tragedies of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marlon Brando, Howard Hughes, James Brown, and James Gandolfini. Recent events and a few discoveries on my part have compelled me to add to that list of Celebrity Estate Planning Tragedies – and...Read More

Executing a trust provides you with an orderly disposition of your estate and avoids probate. However, simply setting up a trust will not avoid probate until the trust obtains legal title to your property.  This is called “funding” the trust. Once you have executed your trust, it is critical to ensure that all appropriate assets are...Read More

If you’re considering doing a Will or Trust for yourself, or assisting another individual with their Estate Plan, it’s important to know who can legally execute estate planning documents. The ability to make a will or trust may also come in to question if you have a parent or relative who is under a conservatorship....Read More

Without a Will or Trust, the state gets to decide who will get your assets. In addition, the chances of a family fight are drastically increased. Even a basic, handwritten will can go a long way – and there’s only a few requirements to make it legally valid. So why do so many Americans put off...Read More