Most people would assume that someone as wealthy and successful as Aretha Franklin would have had a detailed estate plan in place when she passed away recently. However, the “Queen of Soul” reportedly died without even a will — let alone any other documents detailing how she wanted her assets divided among her family and others.

The same happened with another music icon — Prince — when he died two years ago. Reportedly, his estate has still not been settled.

As one San Diego estate planning attorney notes, Franklin’s lack of an estate plan means “the court will ultimately decide who receives [her] property, in a process that is expensive, time-consuming and public.” Requiring your loved ones to deal with your estate in court — even out of the public eye — can put them in conflict with one another and only add to their pain and grief. Unfortunately, fewer than half of those living in the United States have an estate plan.

Many people don’t think that they have an “estate” that requires a plan. However, state law sees it differently. In California, an estate is required to go through probate if the deceased owned over $50,000 in real estate or had total assets and property totaling over $150,000. If you never detailed your wishes, the court will make decisions about your estate based on state law.

Detailing how you want your assets and property disbursed after you’re gone is just one aspect of estate planning. You can and should use your estate plan to designate people to have power of attorney to make financial and health care decisions and the authority to see that your wishes are carried out as you’ve designated. This may be necessary even while you’re still alive if you become incapacitated and unable to speak for yourself.

While it’s natural to resist having to think about what will happen after we’re gone, by taking the time to do so while you’re alive and reasonably well, you can save your loved ones money, time and stress. An experienced California estate planning attorney can help you craft a plan that is appropriate for you, your loved ones and the legacy you want to leave behind.

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When your loved one creates a will, or even if you create one, one thing that can’t happen is for changes to take place after you lose testamentary capacity. If you’ve never heard of this before, it simply means that you can’t make changes to your will or other estate documents if you’re not mentally sound.

This is a protection that prevents people from taking advantage of you during time of confusion. It also helps prevent changes due to hallucinations or confusion. Testamentary capacity is necessary for anyone to change a will or estate plan.

One of the major reasons people lose testamentary capacity is dementia. Dementia is not a specific disease but rather a kind of catch-all phrase that describes a decline in mental abilities. The decline is so significant that it interferes with a person’s daily life. Not all symptoms of dementia occur in the same order or the same way, sometimes making it difficult to diagnose.

What’s the most common form of dementia?

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia in the United States. It accounts for dementia in approximately 60 to 80 percent of cases. A person who develops Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t automatically lose testamentary capacity, but over time, if the decline in memory and thinking skills because too significant, the person can have their testamentary capacity questioned or revoked.

What are some signs that a person might be at risk of losing testamentary capacity?

There are many signs and symptoms to watch out for. The primary worry is that a person’s memory will fail. Combined with confusion, this could mean that it’s easier for others to take advantage of your loved one. Additionally, your loved one may not fully grasp the implications of certain actions. This is why they’re often no longer able to make decisions for themselves.

What should you do if a loved one can no longer make sound decisions?

At this point, it’s wise to talk to their attorney and medical provider. At some point, the medical provider will be able to determine if your loved one is in a position to make decisions any longer. If not, then someone make take over that role, fulfilling the duties of a power of attorney. When that happens, the elder will no longer make decisions or be able to be taken advantage of or manipulated by the people who surround them each day.

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Marijuana has been legal here in California for medicinal purposes since 2004. At the beginning of this year, its recreational sale and use was legalized. Therefore, many Californians engaged in cannabusiness, who are sometimes known as “ganjapreneurs,” have accumulated considerable assets.

However, leaving those assets to family members and other heirs when they die can present some complications that other types of business owners don’t face. Californians involved in this business have had to operate under complicated and ever-changing laws and regulations over the past 14 years. Some people involved in the cannabis business haven’t kept their earnings in traditional bank accounts.

As one California attorney notes, “There’s a good chance that people have more assets than they realize, and creating a trust is critical to avoid the costly, public and painful probate process if you have assets valued at over $150,000 and no plan or a simple will in place.” Any estate that exceeds that amount in California is required to go through probate.

The attorney, who has branched out into estate planning from criminal law, says, “If you don’t have a plan in place, the State of California has a plan for you, and I can guarantee you it is not a plan you will like.” In addition to planning for your death, it’s also important to have a plan should you become incapacitated, including a living trust.

As another attorney notes, “The most foundational level of asset protection begins with planning for what will happen to your assets in the event of your incapacity or death because you are 100 percent guaranteed to have one or both of those happen to you.”

With a carefully-crafted estate plan, Californians can take steps to avoid or at least minimize the complications involved with probate and ensure that their wishes are carried out when they’re no longer around or able to speak for themselves.

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Many baby boomers opted not to have children. Now, in their retirement years, they have plenty of time and money to spend traveling, pursuing new hobbies and visiting friends without having to worry about making time for children and grandchildren.

However, people without children need to carefully plan for their own care in the latter decades of their lives. Even if you’ve remained in good health and reasonably active into your 60s and 70s, that can begin to change as you get into your 80s and older. Something called senescence takes place. That’s the breakdown of the body. There’s no escaping it.

Everyone ages differently, of course. However, as you get into your latter 80s, you can expect to need some assistance with what are referred to as activities of daily living (ADLs). Whether because of physical and/or mental limitations, many elderly people begin to have difficulty taking care of themselves.

By investing in a long-term insurance policy and having some savings in the bank, you can help ensure that you have the resources if you find it necessary (or just advantageous) to move into an assisted living community or hire a home care professional.

If you don’t have children or grandchildren, you may not think it’s imperative to have an estate plan. However, estate planning involves more than whom you’ll leave your assets to. It can and should include documents that state who will be responsible for your financial and medical decisions if you’re not able to make those decisions yourself. While you may want your spouse to do that, what if they die before you or become mentally or physically incapacitated?

If you don’t have family members whom you trust with these responsibilities or who are able and willing to take them on, you can hire a professional fiduciary. However, it’s best to be as clear as possible about your wishes for your health care and end-of-life care. Here in California, you can do that with an advance health care directive.

California estate planning attorneys assist people with all sorts of family types craft estate plans as well as those with no living family. Your attorney can help you plan for the future and help ensure that your wishes are known and properly documented so that you can rest a little easier and enjoy this time in your life.

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Dealing with the death of a loved one can be an emotional and difficult time. For some people, the stress can be compounded by acting as the executor of the decedent’s estate. However, if you are an executor, there are things you can do to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the task before you. When it comes to managing an estate, organization is key.

If you take the time to understand the legal documents associated with the estate and stay organized throughout the process, you can get through the ordeal with ease. Here are some tips that can help you settle your loved one’s estate.

Locate all important documents

The first thing you should do as executor is to locate all the important documents and appraisals associated with the estate. If you have assumed the role of executor, you probably already have a copy of the will in your possession. However, there are several other documents you will need as well. For instance, you should obtain a copy of the death certificate and proof of insurance. You will also have to gather financial documents like bank and investment records, titles to property and information regarding any remaining bills and debt.

Contact the beneficiaries

As the executor, you must stay in contact with the beneficiaries named in the will. At the time of the initial contact, you should let them know that none of them will receive any distributions from the estate until everything has been settled in probate court and with any creditors.

Keep it organized

Since you will be handling a lot of paperwork including paying any outstanding bills the decedent owed at the time of death, filing the decedent’s final tax return and the tax return for the estate, it is vital that you stay organized. Make sure the records you have remain up-to-date and consider creating a filing system to help you keep track of everything. In addition, keep duplicates of everything since you may have to submit copies of various documents to different parties.

Distribute remaining assets

Once you have settle the estate and all creditors have received their final payments and there are not any outstanding bills, it is time to distribute any remaining assets from the estate. Be sure that you follow the directions of the will when it comes time to make the distributions. For instance, if minors are named in the will, then it might include additional instructions to put these beneficiaries’ assets in a trust until they reach their majority.

The above tips can help you manage a loved one’s estate if you are the executor or representative of the estate. Depending on the complexity of the estate you must manage in the Torrance area, you may need additional help from accountants, financial advisors and other individuals who are knowledgeable about handling an estate in order to avoid any legal pitfalls along the way.

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As we frequently discuss here, a thorough estate plan can help you provide for your loved ones after you’re gone and also help them avoid costly probate fees and unnecessary taxes. If you have minor children, you can designate one or more guardians in your estate plan to care for them if you and your co-parent both died or became incapacitated.

However, as one financial advisor notes, parents of young children would be wise to go one step further. That involves something he has termed “micro estate planning.”

When it comes to ensuring that your children are cared for as you would wish in the hours and days following a tragedy, micro estate planning would involve drafting a separate document designating who should assume guardianship of the children until legal guardianship can be established, either as you’ve outlined in your estate plan or some other way.

After you’ve drafted this document, you should keep a copy not only in your estate plan binder, but on your refrigerator or some location where a babysitter, police or others can easily find it. This can help save your children the added trauma of being taken by Child Protective Services (CPS) or other authorities until an appropriate guardian can be located.

Remember that one of the key goals of your estate plan is to make things easier for your loved ones at a very difficult time. This is particularly crucial if you have young children. You may have plenty of family and friends who would be willing and able to care for your kids if something happened to you. However, by codifying your wishes in a legal document and making it easy to access, you can help minimize the trauma of an already devastating time for your children and family.

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Cryptocurrency has become increasingly popular in recent years. These digital assets are popular not just with experienced traders, but with everyday folks hoping to strike it rich with the next initial coin offering (ICO).

Part of the intrigue and appeal of cryptocurrencies are their anonymous nature. However, that anonymity means that if you don’t take the proper steps when drafting your estate plan, your cryptocurrency investments be lost in cyberspace when you pass away.

California is one of the few states that has put laws in place to address digital assets. Based on the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (UFADAA), California law lets people authorize someone to access their digital assets (a “digital fiduciary”) under certain conditions. This means that Californians can take steps in their estate planning to assign someone to disburse their cryptocurrency and other digital assets as they designate.

Most people do this via a trust, which contains the digital assets, designates a trustee and directs that trustee regarding whether to continue to invest the assets for future disposition or to immediately disburse them to heirs and beneficiaries after their death.

Naturally, given the secretive nature of cryptocurrency, the holder of the currency needs to provide the designated trustee(s) with the information needed to access it and make transactions. This involves placing usernames, security codes and other information in a secure location where the appropriate person(s) can access it when the time comes.

Don’t forget to consider the tax consequences for your estate both under state and federal law. The government is well aware of cryptocurrency. Don’t assume that it will fly under the radar. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), for example, taxes cryptocurrency as tangible property. The value of your estate for tax purposes will include your cryptocurrency’s fair market value as of the day you pass away.

California estate planning attorneys can provide information on how cryptocurrency in estates is taxed under California law. They can also give you valuable guidance on how to include it in your estate plan so that your loved ones and others can reap the rewards of your investments.

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There are numerous reasons why you may need to contest a will or estate plan in California. Maybe your parent remarried, and his or her spouse applied a lot of pressure toward having the will changed. Perhaps your loved one made drastic changes to the will in the last weeks of his or her life, during a stage of serious mental decline. There are many valid reasons to question a last will’s contents.

Whatever the reason, it is important to understand that your rights as an heir are somewhat limited under the law. In some cases, bringing a challenge can even affect your ability to inherit anything at all. If the person who passed on included a no-contest clause in one’s will, bringing a challenge in the courts could actually result in losing your inheritance.

Testators include no-contest clauses to avoid probate and family strife

When someone goes through the trouble of creating an estate plan and a last will, the point is usually to prevent unnecessary conflict. After all, if someone created a last will, he or she obviously desires to leave behind a specific legacy.

While you may not agree with the specifics of the last will, it is the testator’s right to decide how to allocate the assets he or she accrued during life. Unfortunately, changes like reducing the inheritance to one child or even leaving money to charity or for pets could result in massive family fallout and a challenge in probate court.

Some people add no-contest clauses to prevent unnecessary challenges to their legacy. These clauses typically include a penalty for anyone who challenges the estate plan or last will. In some cases, the penalty may be a certain amount of money given to charity. In other cases, it could mean reducing someone’s inheritance by a percentage. Sometimes, people go so far as to completely disinherit anybody who challenges their wills.

California law about no-contest clauses is nuanced

Many states have a broad approach to no-contest clauses. Some states, like Florida, simply do not enforce them in court. Other states enforce them across the board. Still others will enforce them unless an heir brings a challenge in good faith or with probable cause.

California has much more nuanced and specific rules in place. While the courts may uphold a no-contest clause, there are cases in which the state considers the clause unenforceable. It will often uphold the clause in the case of a direct challenge without probable cause.

Because of how complex the law is, you should make sure you fully understand how the state’s approach to enforcing these clauses could impact your inheritance before you make any major decisions. Taking action before you understand the consequences could mean losing out on your inheritance.

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If you are a Californian who doesn’t have an estate plan in place — even a simple will or trust — your assets will be distributed after your death according to the California Probate Code. This law delineates what percentage of a deceased person’s assets various family members are entitled to receive simply by virtue of their familial connection.

Of course, one of the many advantages of having an estate plan is that you can determine how you want your assets divided among your heirs and other beneficiaries. For example, maybe you aren’t close to your siblings. Perhaps you’ve given your children every advantage and now they’re comfortably self-sufficient. You may have had a serious falling out with a parent who’s still alive.

Why not leave what would be their share of your estate under probate law to a person or organization you would like to see have the money?

When you’re working with your estate planning attorney, he or she will want to discuss your reasoning for making choices that vary from the distributions outlined by the California Probate Code. There are a number of reasons for this.

Your attorney needs to make sure that you understand that your asset distribution choices vary from what’s codified for estates that have to be settled through probate because there were no documents in place.

Your attorney may ask you to put something in writing addressing the reasoning for your decisions. This can help prevent estate contests by those who believe the deceased person didn’t understand what he or she was doing or was the victim of undue influence by someone else.

If there are concerns that a client may be under the influence of someone else, the attorney will likely meet with the client alone to make sure that the decisions about the provisions of the estate plan are what the client wishes and not the result of coercion, harassment or threats.

If you’re making decisions that you fear family members and other potential heirs may be unhappy with and perhaps try to challenge after your death, your attorney may advise you to talk with them so they’re less likely to challenge your estate plan. These conversations can be unpleasant, and many people would prefer not to have them. However, by doing so, you save time, money and stress for your loved ones after you’re gone.

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There’s been significant media coverage of the tragic, untimely death of celebrity chef, author and world traveler Anthony Bourdain, who introduced viewers of his television show to people he met and shared meals with across the globe.

It’s no wonder that among the considerable assets he left behind were airline frequent flyer miles. It’s not known how many thousands or perhaps millions of miles Bourdain had when he passed away. However, he reportedly left them to his wife, from whom he was separated, to “dispose of in accordance to what she believes to be his wishes.”

While most people don’t have the frequent flyer miles that Bourdain likely did, many people have hundreds of thousands of miles across one or more airlines when they die. Perhaps they were saving up for a grand vacation they were never able to take. Maybe they were so busy traveling for business that they never made time to use their miles for a vacation. Even people who aren’t frequent travelers often have credit cards that allow them to earn miles and other travel rewards just by using the card.

If you want to include your airline miles in your estate plan, it’s important to find out what each airline’s policy is regarding how miles are transferred after a person’s death. For example, United Airlines’ MileagePlus policy states, “In the event of the death or divorce of a Member, United may, in its sole discretion, credit all or a portion of such Member’s accrued mileage to authorized persons upon receipt of documentation satisfactory to United and payment of applicable fees.”

While helping you with your estate planning strategy, your California estate planning attorney can assist you in deciphering the airlines’ policies and take whatever steps are necessary to ease the transfer of your miles to those you want to benefit from them. Bourdain likely made a wise choice designating a specific person to determine what will become of his miles.

As with every other asset we leave to others after our deaths, we can use our airline miles to leave a legacy for others. In Bourdain’s case that involved seeing the world and exploring other cultures. As he once said, “Open your mind, get up off the couch. Move.”

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