Dying debt free in Los Angeles may be a goal, but it's often not a reality. In many states, leftover debt following a person's death is an estate's problem, not a direct concern for heirs. In California, community property laws sometimes force surviving spouses to pay...
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Year: 2013
Tupac case: Lesson for California intellectual property planning
Los Angeles residents may overlook the valuable, invisible assets they own known as intellectual property. For estate administration purposes, website domains and blogs, images, art or music you share through social media sites are assets that belong to you and, if...
Los Angeles estate planners: Have you valued your Pogs lately?
Silly Bands and Pogs from the 1990s and Cabbage Patch Dolls from the 1980s were collectibles that some people bought in quantity, with the idea that someday those childhood toys would be "worth something." Other than niche buyers, who today values a Cabbage Patch Doll...
Settlement places heiress’s California home in arts foundation
Financial elder abuse can be prevented by a carefully-crafted estate plan, provided the documents are in place while an individual is relatively young and healthy. Wills drafted in advanced age can invite legal contests among heirs and beneficiaries. Huguette Clark...
Reasons not to obsess over avoiding California probate
California estate planning laws include ways Los Angeles residents can circumvent probate. Some probated estate issues take a long time to resolve and devalue an estate. In many cases, probate functions simply to verify the validity of a will so the last desires of a...
California legal issues when decedents die intestate
Beneficiaries do not have to be named in a will to receive assets from an estate. A life insurance policy is an example. The proceeds from the policy go to the assigned beneficiary, whether or not that person is also named in a Los Angeles will, trust or other estate...
California estate timetable for heirs and beneficiaries
Grief and duty mix following a family member's death. Relatives nearest to the deceased are often assigned the roles of executors and trustees with time-sensitive duties to perform. Fiduciary responsibility begins the moment someone dies and continues until estate...
California estate myth: Only wealthy people have trusts
You don't have to be a television, movie or music legend in Los Angeles to want control over inheritances you leave for heirs. If you think your estate plan is fine without a trust, you might be right. Then again, you might be missing something. Trusts are legal...
California estate plans now focus on aging baby boomers
The parents of baby boomers have reached an advanced age. The children of the World War II generation are baby boomers. Members of the country's largest-ever generation were born between 1946 and 1964, which means some Los Angeles boomers are already grandparents...
Children may not be best choice for California fiduciary role
California parents who keep contents of their estate plans confidential aren't doing heirs any favors. Children can be disappointed, and sometimes angered to the point of litigation, by making assumptions about inheritances or roles as fiduciaries. A person designated...