Throughout my practice, I have had many clients tell me that once a trust becomes irrevocable, nothing can ever be changed. While an irrevocable trust is certainly much more difficult to modify than a revocable living trust, that does not necessarily mean every provision is permanently set in sto...

Although it is not something most people like to think about, accidents and unexpected events can sometimes result in the deaths of two family members at or near the same time. Married couples, parents and children, or other close relatives may be involved in the same tragic event, raising import...

Naming beneficiaries is one of the most important parts of creating an estate plan. Most people carefully decide who should receive their assets, but few stop to consider what happens if one of those beneficiaries passes away before they do. While it may seem like an unlikely situation, it is one...

Throughout my experience, I have had many clients spend a great deal of time deciding who should serve as the executor of their will or the successor trustee of their living trust. However, one question that is often overlooked is what happens if that person is no longer willing or able to serve ...

Over the years, I have had many clients in California who own real estate or other valuable property with family members, siblings, or even former partners. While joint ownership can be an effective way to hold property, it can also create significant conflict when the co owners no longer agree o...

When people hear “asset protection,” they often envision complex and exotic structures—irrevocable trusts, multi-layered LLCs, offshore entities. But the truth is, for many people, asset protection starts with much simpler—and less glamorous—tools that may already be in place. First, if you have...

Over the years, I have had clients in California who are looking for more advanced estate planning strategies to reduce potential estate tax exposure while still maintaining some level of access to their assets during their lifetime. One strategy that often comes up in these discussions is the Sp...