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 intestate is not fair to your family. If that happens, you’ll leave them with no personal instructions. They’ll have to go through probate to work out who owns what or who has to take care of your estate’s liabilities. Here are three reasons you shouldn’t go without a will.

1. It delays the distribution of your assets

Dying intestate delays the distribution of your assets. Instead of having beneficiaries receive them quickly following your death, they instead have to go through the probate process. It’s long and costly, which is not something any family wants to deal with after a death.

2. You can’t decide who gets what

If you have an idea about who you want to leave certain assets to, don’t die without a will. Intestate succession laws dictate how your assets are split if you die without a will. They may or may not be in line with your intentions.

3. You have no say in guardianship

If you’re a parent without a will and don’t have a spouse, dying without a will means you get no say in who takes over the care of your child. Make the effort to write a will, even if it’s only to appoint a guardian in the event of your death.

These are a few reasons you don’t want to die without a will. Take the time to draft yours now, so that you’re protected.

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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 at the time.

Multiple people, including alleged family members, friends and others are fighting over who gets the cult leader’s possessions — and his body.

Because Manson was so infamous, anything he left behind could have significant monetary value. One man, who claims he was a pen pal of Manson, says, “It’s despicable that I’m still sitting here 60 days later and I can’t get my friend cremated.” Another “pen pal” also claims to have Manson memorabilia. Both have sold items in their collection to “fans.”

Yet another man, who claims to be Manson’s grandson and heir, claims to have a will signed by Manson in which he is named sole beneficiary and executor of the estate. Multiple people have come forward, claiming to be related to Manson.

The legal matters regarding Manson and his estate span three counties throughout California. He lived in Los Angeles County at the time he was arrested. Manson was imprisoned in Kings County. Kern County is also involved because that’s where he died.

As odious as the man and this case is, there’s something to be learned from it for everyone. It’s essential for everyone to have an estate plan in place to minimize legal battles among heirs and beneficiaries after they are gone. An experienced California estate planning attorney can help you do that.

Source: CBS 2 Los Angeles, “Battle Over Charles Manson’s Estate Taking Place In L.A. Courtroom,” The Associated Press, Jan. 26, 2018

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Disputes between widows and their stepchildren are among the most common type of estate battles. These can involve will and trust contests, accusations of elder financial abuse, deed revocations and much more.

In many cases, tensions between stepmothers and stepchildren while the husband/father is alive escalate into all-out legal battles after he dies. This can happen whether there are significant or even relatively small amounts of money and property at stake.

Of course, the same issues can occur with widowers and their stepchildren. However, since women generally outlive men, it’s the stepmother/stepchildren scenario that’s more common. Interestingly, studies show that only 20 percent of adults with stepmothers say they are close to them.

The more unevenly divided the amount left to the widow and the stepchildren, the more likely it is there will be a legal challenge. The longer it takes to resolve the issues, the more they’re likely to escalate.

There are a number of common scenarios that can lead to protracted estate disputes.

• The couple was married for a relatively short time, so the deceased only recently made changes that impacted his children.
• The couple’s relationship may have begun as an affair, where the deceased cheated on the children’s mother, causing early and ongoing animosity.
• The stepmother may have tried to keep her husband’s children out of her husband’s life as he grew ill and/or cut them out of details about his death and subsequent funeral arrangements.
• The deceased had dementia. This can give children reason to believe that their stepmother influenced their father to make changes to his estate he didn’t intend.
• The stepmother has children of her own whom her stepchildren feel benefited unfairly from their father’s generosity in life and/or death.

If you have a blended family, even if the children are adults, it’s essential to have a comprehensive estate plan in place. It’s also best if everyone understands what’s in the plan so that there are no unpleasant surprises to your loved ones if you pass away before your spouse.

Many people would understandably prefer to avoid these conversations with family members, but they can help prevent lengthy, expensive, bitter battles when you’re gone.

If you have reason to doubt that your parent’s estate plan reflects what he or she intended or believe that there was wrongdoing by a beneficiary, an experienced California estate planning attorney can advise you of your legal options.

Source: Forbes, “Stepmothers: The Cause Of So Many Estate Fights,” Michael Hackard, Next Avenue, Jan. 23, 2018

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If you are the executor of a loved one’s will, you might have a challenging job ahead of you. The duties can often be time-consuming and usually include protecting the decedent’s assets until it is time to dissolve the estate and distribute the remaining property to the beneficiaries. If you feel that these duties are too much to handle, you do have the option to request the probate court in Los Angeles to assign the duties to another individual.

As an executor, you will probably need some help while you see to the estate of your loved one. The following tips can help you stay on track.

Get the death certificate

You will need the decedent’s death certificate in order to deal with banks and other financial institutions as well as agencies such as the Social Security Administration and Veteran’s Affairs. You will also need copies of the death certificate to file the decedent’s final tax returns. Be sure you obtain at least twice as many copies as you think you will need to ensure that you have enough as you go through these processes.

Locate the will or trust

One of the most important things you will do as the executor is to find the Last Will and Testament as well as any trust documents. Unless there is a living trust that will allow you to bypass probate, you will have to file a copy of the will with the court fairly soon after the death of your loved one.

Take care of the assets

As the executor of an estate, part of your duties include locating all of the assets that the estate owns. Once you know where they are, you must take steps to protect them and ensure that the proper beneficiaries receive them. In other words, you may have to protect items such as family heirlooms or collectibles from the decedent’s relatives who might try to obtain them without any rights to do so.

If you are the executor of an estate, the above tips can help you stay on track with your duties. In addition to these tips, you many want to enlist the help of experienced professionals such as accountants, tax preparers or financial advisors.

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Your loved one passed away, and you had to immediately clean out his home. It wasn’t more than a few months later when you realized that while the home sat empty and you worked out the arrangements for it, someone else moved in. You don’t know who it is, but now you want to get him or her out of the home so that you can sell it.

Adverse possession rights do give people the ability to walk into a home, to take possession and to live in it as if it’s their own. However, there are restrictions and ways that they must live in order to obtain legal protections. The individual can’t hide and must appear to be living in the home as if it’s his or her own.

How long does it take for someone to obtain a home through adverse possession?

Usually, it takes several years for an individual to obtain a home through adverse possession. Living in a home for a few months without permission doesn’t entitle you to the title for the property or give you the right to remain.

One complication is that you may need to go through a kind of eviction process to move the person out of the home if he or she took possession when you were unaware. If the individual refuses to leave, you may need to speak with the police to have him or her removed for trespassing or breaking and entering. It’s easier to do this if you realize that someone is living in the home sooner rather than later.

At the end of the day, this property does not belong to the individual using it without permission. Your attorney can help you move the person out of the property, so you can move forward with the sale.

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One of the reasons that many Californians put an estate plan in place is so that their heirs can avoid probate. Probate is basically the legal process of settling an estate.

The probate process in California can be costly in time and money. It can take as long as two years before heirs and beneficiaries receive what has been left to them. Further, legal fees can take a percentage of the estate.

Another good reason to avoid probate is that you can keep the estate private. Probate files are public record. People can see what others inherited and try to make a claim themselves if they feel they’ve been short-changed or forgotten.

Many people avoid probate by having other owners listed on their accounts or property. If you co-own an account or property with a spouse or adult children who have right of survivorship, the assets transfer directly to them on your death.

Another good planning tool is to have designated beneficiaries where possible. You can do this on retirement accounts, investment accounts, insurance policies, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and more.

Living trusts are a popular estate planning tool, not just to avoid probate, but because they can make estate administration easier for the person designated as the successor trustee. Generally, with revocable living trusts, the person who sets it up is the trustee until he or she dies or is incapacitated. The successor trustee then takes over. Assets in these trusts don’t have to go through probate.

If there are assets you don’t need or want, you can give them to loved ones while you’re still alive. Therefore, they won’t be part of your estate or subject to probate. However, if these gifts are worth a considerable amount, it’s important to determine what the tax implications could be for those who receive them so that you can take steps to minimize those.

An experienced California estate planning attorney can help you ensure that your wishes for your estate are properly and legally detailed. You want to ensure that you’ve done all you can to minimize the cost and stress of settling your estate to your loved ones after you’re gone.

Source: Investopedia, “Why and How You Should Keep an Estate Out of Probate,” Jiyao Xu, CFP, Jan. 09, 2018

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Many California estate planning attorneys recommend that their clients set up living trusts. There are a number of advantages for your heirs if you place your assets in this type of trust while you’re still alive.

• They help keep your estate out of probate — a process that can be costly and time-consuming for your heirs. By avoiding probate, you also keep your estate private, since when an estate is in probate, information on it can be accessible to the public.
• A living trust makes it easier for your designated power of attorney to deal with your financial obligations if you become incapacitated than if you don’t have one.
• If you have a living trust, you may not need a will. In some cases, however, estate planning attorneys will advise having what’s called a “pour-over will” to encompass any assets you may have neglected to include in the living trust.

If you have a relatively small amount of assets, there may be other ways for you to help your loved ones avoid probate than having a living will. Sometimes, however, people don’t realize just how much they have until they add up their property, retirement accounts, investments and other assets. The median value of a home here in Los Angeles is over $650,000.

When you sit down with your California estate planning attorney to discuss your wishes, both for after you die and if you become incapacitated, he or she will advise you of the best way to codify those in your estate plan. This will give you peace of mind that you’ve made things easier for your loved ones.

Source: Los Angeles Times, “Why setting up a living trust may be wise, especially in California,” Liz Weston, Jan. 07, 2018

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The Swedes have a word –“dostadning” — that literally means “death cleaning.” This unpleasant term refers to something that many people do as they get older and downsize to a smaller home or assisted living facility. It’s getting rid of things you don’t use, need or have room for. There’s even a book called The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.

If you’ve gotten to the age where you’re simplifying and decluttering your life, don’t forget to do the same with your finances. Just as getting rid of old clothes and furniture makes things easier for your loved ones after you’re gone, so does consolidating your financial “clutter” like accounts and credit cards.

It’s also a good idea to place your accounts in as few institutions as possible. This paring down and consolidation of accounts, like the decluttering of your belongings, will help your loved ones handle your estate after you’re gone.

You can further simplify your finances by setting up automatic payments for everything from utilities to newspapers to homeowners’ association dues. This simplifies the payment process and helps protect people who become more forgetful with age — as most of us do. Automatic payments can also be helpful if you are incapacitated, whether for a short or long period.

It’s also essential to make sure that you have designated one or more trusted family people in your estate plan to have powers of attorney over your finances and health care decisions if you are unable to do so. By having a health care directive in place as well, you can codify your wishes for things like what type of life-prolonging measures you wish to have taken.

While decluttering your home, gather the documents that your estate administrator and others may need when you die or if you become incapacitated. Keep them in one place, and let the appropriate people know where they are. These include:

Also create “in case of emergency” files that your trusted person or heirs will need. These might include:

• Estate plan documents
• Military records
• Insurance policies
• Birth and other certificates
• Driver’s license, Social Security card and other identification
• List of your accounts, loans and credit cards
• Property title documents
• Emergency contact information (including your attorney’s name and phone)

If you need help determining how best to go about your financial “dostadning,” your California estate planning attorney can provide valuable guidance.

Source: USA Today, “Estate planning: How to ‘death clean’ your finances,” Liz Weston, NerdWallet.com, Dec. 21, 2017

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There may come a time when a loved one, such as a parent, is no longer able to care for him- or herself. As disappointing as this may be, you need to do the right thing by helping this person make sound decisions regarding their future.

You may come to find that moving your loved one into an assisted living facility is the best thing you can do. Here are some of the signs that point toward this happening:

• Accidents, such as falls around the home, that are becoming more frequent as the months go by
• A slow recovery after an illness or injury
• A health condition that continues to get worse
• Difficulties managing day-to-day activities, such as cooking and bathing
• Noticeable weight gain, meaning that your loved one may not be eating enough and/or caring for him- or herself in the appropriate manner
• Changes in appearance (for the worse)
• Signs of withdrawal, such as no longer wanting to spend any time with friends or family
• Spending too many consecutive days at home, all without any desire to leave

These are not the only signs that your loved one may need to move to an assisted living facility. However, these are a few of the signs that often come to the forefront early on.

Even though you may struggle with your role in helping this person transition into an assisted living home, you don’t want to ignore the situation and hope for the best.

In addition to talking things over with your loved one, don’t hesitate to involve your family doctor. This person can provide additional information, including an inside look at the health benefits of moving to an assisted living facility.

You want what’s best for your loved one, and that may mean talking about the benefits of moving him or her to assisted living. Once you know how to approach the subject and what the move entails, you’ll feel more comfortable moving forward.

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For many of us, our companion animals are an integral part of the family. However, too many of them end up in animal shelters after their guardians become unable to care for them or pass away because those guardians didn’t plan for their future.

Sometimes, people assume that family members will care for their animals when they’re no longer around. However, one bite by a frightened dog or clawing by a cat who doesn’t enjoy his new home may put an end to that.

Increasingly, Californians are including their companion animals in their estate plans via what’s commonly called a pet trust. Your attorney may refer to it differently. However, the purpose is to designate a caregiver for your animals, provide money for their care and leave instructions for the type of care you expect them to have.

These instructions can be as general or detailed as you choose. Most people just want to be assured that their animals will be in a safe, loving home where they’ll have a good quality of life and that they’re cared for if they become sick. Others may want to specify the type of food they get or the number of walks they go on each day.

You can also name your executor or someone else to monitor the animals’ care by the designated caregiver after you’re no longer around. That executor will probably be the one to provide the funds you’ve stipulated to your animal caregiver, either in a lump sum or periodically.

It should be stipulated that the funds in the trust are to be used solely for the care of your animals. You may want to designate a remainder beneficiary for whatever funds have gone unused after the last animal has passed away, or you may choose to let your caregiver keep the remaining funds.

Of course, as with any trustee, it’s essential to make sure that the person you designate as your animal caregiver is able and willing to take on the responsibility, and that you update the trust if it becomes necessary to designate someone else.

While these trusts aren’t legally recognized in all states, here in California, they have been for nearly a decade. Therefore, many California estate planning attorneys can provide guidance in drafting the language for your pet trust based on your wishes for your animals’ care.

Source: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, “Pet Trust Primer,” accessed Dec. 27, 2017

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