Increasingly, Californians doing their estate planning have to deal with the reality that they have a child with a substance abuse problem. Even when children are in recovery, parents may be understandably concerned about what could happen if they inherited a large sum of money or considerable assets. Even a few thousand dollars given in […]

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Recently, we discussed the battle over music legend James Brown’s estate among those involved in his complicated personal life. Now the estate of another wealthy and colorful man, billionaire mogul Kirk Kerkorian, is the source of a legal battle here in California nearly three years after his death at 98 years old in June 2015. […]

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The majority of Americans don’t have a will. Even many of those who realize that they should put something in place to lay out how their assets will be distributed and, more importantly, who will take care of their kids, use do-it-yourself (DIY) methods. There is no end to software options for people who want […]

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Recently, we discussed the fact that many estate disputes involve stepmothers and their stepchildren. That’s the case with the estate of music legend James Brown. The “Godfather of Soul” died just over 11 years ago, on Christmas Day 2006, after a complicated life that included drugs, multiple arrests and estrangement from some of his children. […]

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Dying intestate, or without a will, is a bad idea for many reasons. It’s important for people of all ages to create wills, even if they cover only the most basic things. Wills dictate what happens to your assets, and they can make it simpler for your beneficiaries and family members to handle your estate. Dying […]

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Most people wouldn’t assume that someone like Charles Manson had an estate worth fighting over. Manson, the “mastermind” behind multiple murders in the Los Angeles area in 1969, died in prison last year. These were infamously known as the “Manson murders,” and involved the deaths of nine people, including actress Sharon Tate, who was pregnant […]

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