Increasingly, couples are choosing to postpone marriage until later in life or not marry at all. While cohabitating partners may feel married, in the eyes of the law, they aren’t. Here in California, common law marriage isn’t recognized. That means that no matter how long you and your significant other have lived together, the two […]

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Trusts are an important part of many Californians’ estate plans. However, drafting a trust or other estate planning documents is rarely a “one and done” situation. Assuming that you haven’t waited until you’re very old and/or ill to do this important planning for your legacy and your family’s future, you’ll likely need to make some […]

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Being named the executor of someone’s estate is a bit of a mixed blessing. You may wonder if you should feel honored to be chosen, but there still may be some part of you that wonders why you were the one “lucky” enough to get the job. In either case, this mission, if you choose […]

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It isn’t uncommon for a parent to name one of their children or another responsible party as the executor of their estate. In cases such as these, this individual is the representative of their assets and heirs. Under some circumstances, this role could be considerably complex and encompass many years depending on what’s involved with […]

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When you think about estate planning, it is common to think about planning for funerals and distributing wealth; including homes and investment accounts. This mode of thinking may lead people to believe that estate planning is only for the well-of, middle aged and elderly. However, estate planning can be beneficial for young people as well; […]

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Many people make assumptions about family, particularly their parents. They assume that their parents should take care of them in childhood, that they will step in and help their parents a bit during their golden years if needed, and when their parents are gone they will take care of them once again — by leaving […]

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In a number of our posts, we have talked about inheriting property. Indeed, most of them have been in the context of celebrities leaving large sums of money and properties to their heirs, but that doesn’t mean that properties are not left to regular, everyday people.  In fact, it is estimated that thousands of homes […]

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For many of us, our pets are beloved members of our family. However, too often they are not considered when people are developing their estate plans. People just assume that a family member will take them when they die, or that they will outlive their pets. Unfortunately, however, companion animals often end up in shelters […]

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