Less than a year after the sudden death of Alan Thicke, the popular actor’s two sons are embroiled in a legal battle with Thicke’s widow over his living trust and the terms of his prenuptial agreement with his third wife. The 69-year-old, perhaps remembered by most people as the affable dad on the 1980s comedy Growing Pains, suffered a ruptured aorta while he was playing ice hockey in Burbank last December.

Thicke’s two adult sons are the co-trustees of a living trust that dates back nearly 20 years. One of them is singer Robin Thicke, perhaps best known for his hit single “Blurred Lines.” The two men allege in a petition to the court that their 41-year-old stepmother, Tanya, is trying to get more than the considerable amount left to her by her husband under the terms of their prenuptial agreement. The couple signed the legal document when they married in 2005.

The Thicke sons are asking the court to rule on the distribution of the trust assets, which include a ranch, to Mrs. Thicke and other beneficiaries. According to her attorney, however, the sons are using up the trust’s assets by taking legal steps, “attempting to tarnish Tanya’s name in the press” and “depleting their inheritances” in the process. He says that there’s nothing for a court to litigate.

Court papers filed on Mrs. Thicke’s behalf assert that the trust is “not yet in a position to be distributed.” The filing also claims that the sons “have not so much as even provided a proposed distribution plan, much less an accounting of the trust’s assets, to the beneficiaries or the court.”

The sons’ attorneys, on the other hand, claim that they’re simply trying to settle matters related to their stepmother’s challenges of both the prenup and the trust based on California’s community property laws.

Even carefully-drafted trust documents can face challenges in court when people believe that they aren’t getting what’s due them. An experienced California estate planning attorney can help trustees sort out the issues and determine how documents like prenups factor in. They can also work to protect the terms of the trust.

Source: MyNewsLA.com, “Alan Thicke’s sons trying to ‘tarnish’ stepmom’s name?,” Toni McAllister, Sep. 08, 2017

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Just because you prepare a will and other estate plan documents that are legally valid doesn’t mean that there won’t be conflicts among heirs, including siblings. If parents leave their home, for example, to just one of their children, the others may be hurt and angry.

In a letter recently published in The New York Times Magazine, a woman talked about the anger, accusations and threats of lawsuits she’d received from her older brothers after she alone was named the beneficiary of her mother’s home. The mother died after her daughter allegedly cared for her for many years. She claims her brothers were so angry that even when she offered to put the home up for sale and divide the profits with them, they would not speak to her.

In most states, parents aren’t legally required to bequeath property or other assets to adult children. (Of course, most parents try to provide for adult disabled children after they’re gone.) Parents can divide their assets among their kids as they choose, or leave nothing to any of them.

As long as the will was prepared properly, relatives and others who feel they’ve been left out probably don’t have any legal recourse. That’s why, in order to get what they want, they may turn to emotional blackmail and intimidation of the heir who received the bulk of the assets.

Stories like this show why it’s essential to discuss your estate plan with your grown children, particularly if you aren’t dividing your assets equally among them. You may have very good reasons for leaving more to one child than another. Perhaps he or she has cared for you for many years, for example, and you want to reward those efforts.

Whatever the reasons for the distributions you designate, you should discuss them honestly. This may be extremely difficult for you, but it can prevent conflict and estrangement among your children after you’re gone. Your California family law attorney can provide guidance for having these difficult conversations.

Source: The New York Times Magazine, “Mom Left Me the House. What Do I Owe My Brothers?,” Kwame Anthony Appiah, Aug. 16, 2017

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When it comes to inheritances and estate plans, if the person who dies creates a legally valid estate plan, then this plan — in conjunction with California law — will dictate the dispensation of the estate. It doesn’t matter if you’re the wife, the son or the lover of the decedent, you are not entitled to receive anything that the estate plan and the law do not assign to you.

That said, some people have the “feeling” that they should receive more than the will or estate plan offers them. Whether these individuals are aware of it or not, this feeling is often tied to the ancient notion of “birthright.”

What is birthright?

Birthright is an ancient biblical term that describes an individual’s inherent inheritance rights based on bloodlines, the sex of the individual, the birth order of the individual and family ties.

Here are several definitions of birthright:

• The assets or special privileges that an individual possesses — or has the right to receive — by virtue of his or her birth.
• The special privileges or assets to which a first-born son is entitled.
• Your inheritance rights by virtue of the family into which you’ve been born.

Inheritance isn’t about birthright anymore

The traditional and ancient notions of “birthright” no longer work in modern society. That’s because we have federal and state intestacy laws that govern the dispensation of estates belonging to individuals who die without a will. If your deceased family member has taken the time to complete a will and/or estate plan, this plan will dictate how the wealth and assets of the estate shall be distributed to others.

If no will is on file, intestacy laws will determine who receives what. If a family member’s notion or feeling of what he or she should receive does not fall into alignment with the estate plan — intestacy laws if no plan exists — it is not likely that the individual will receive what he or she wants, no matter how much litigation is involved.

Learn more about intestacy law, California estate law and determine your legal right to inherit assets and money following the death of a close relative.

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One of the more common estate planning questions that clients ask about trusts is whether their home can be placed into it. You can continue managing your assets if you place them into a family or living trust. However, there are certain conditions that must be met to do so.

If you or your spouse have the mortgage loan in either one of your names, then it’s important to know that your repayment obligation won’t be able to be transferred into the trust. While you’ll be eligible to continue to claim a property tax and interest deduction if you choose to do so, you’ll be required to continue to personally back the mortgage loan yourself.

With a family trust, a grantor often chooses to put their home into it as a way of ensuring that their beneficiaries won’t have to endure a lengthy probate process or pay hefty taxes after they die. It also protects the property from having liens placed on it by unsecured creditors.

By creating a family trust, a grantor can feel more confident that a lender will allow the property to be transferred to them so that they continue living in it without a hassle. While banks tend to frown upon homes being placed into trusts, they ultimately tend to allow it, so long as the mortgage payments continue to be paid.

If the trust is revocable, it means that the grantor can change the beneficiaries of the transfer of the home as they please. While an irrevocable trust may provide a grantor with more of a tax break, making modifications to their beneficiaries or terms is not as easily done.

While most lenders recognize the transfer of a mortgage into a family trust as not triggering the ‘due on sale’ clause, it just might. That’s why it’s important for you to communicate with the mortgage company prior to transferring your home into the trust and to get their response put in writing. Doing so will avoid you potentially having the mortgage placed in default status if they happen to impose the clause down the road.

If you’re looking to place your home into a trust or simply have questions about how creating a trust may be beneficial for you and your heirs, a Los Angeles estate planning attorney can help.

Source: SFGate, “Can You Put a Home that Has a Mortgage in a Family Trust?,” accessed Sep. 01, 2017

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One of the last things that you might want to deal with when your loved one dies is having to handle a probate issue. Many people these days leave behind estate plans that let other people know their wishes for their property.

There are times when someone is going to decide that he or she doesn’t think the will is correct. They might feel that someone coerced the person into making provisions in the will that the decedent really didn’t want. They might think that the person wasn’t in his or her right mind when he or she created the will.

We understand that these are some of the situations that you don’t want to have to deal with. It might infuriate you to think that someone is questioning your loved one’s final wishes. Even though this might be the case, you must still take proper action to help to rectify the situation.

First, you need to remember that this is your family that you are dealing with. Ultimately, the contents of the will aren’t likely going to matter if you lose your family.

Second, you must find out about the legalities of the situation. Does the person have a valid reason to contest the will? Does the person have a qualifying relationship to the decedent? Are other applicable conditions of a will contest met?

We can help you to figure these points out so that you can determine what options you have. Learning your options can help you make a decision about what you are going to do to get the situation handled in the way you feel is most appropriate.

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When it comes to your parents’ home, you might think that you have a natural right to live there, even after they pass away or become incapacitated. While this usually does not cause a problem, in some cases, a parent’s home may pass ownership to someone else who does not wish for you to live there.

If you do find yourself in conflict with the new owner of a parent’s home, whether he or she is one of your other family members or some other person who now owns the home, you must consider your next few steps carefully.

Legally, you do not have the right to live in a home simply because your parent owned the home before he or she passed away. Depending on your parent’s estate planning (or lack of estate planning), the home may now legally belong to someone who does not want you to live there.

Can I contest my right to be in the home?

In broad strokes, yes. However, depending on your relationship to the new legal owner of the home, your mileage may vary, so to speak. A wise place to start is usually to consult with an experienced planning attorney who understands the intricacies of contesting wills and other estate documents in California.

If you are very lucky, you may find a way to resolve the issue without using the legal system. If, for instance, you have a sibling who received the home legally after your parent passed away, he or she may listen to reason and allow you to continue to live there.

However, it is important to understand that the nature of your relationship to the property changed when your parent passed away, and if you live in the home now, you are essentially a tenant.

As a tenant, you may face eviction for any number of legitimate reasons, so defining the terms under which you continue to live in the home is crucial. You certainly don’t want to give the home’s new owner a reason to evict you.

How can an attorney help me?

Estate laws in California are complicated, so it is not possible to know exactly where you stand legally without examining the details of your particular circumstances. However, a skilled attorney can represent your rights and explore way that you can plead your grounds for remaining in the home.

If you face legal action, an attorney can provide a professional legal response that keeps your priorities secure while using the strength of the law to ensure that your parent’s house can remain your home if at all possible.

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There’s more to developing an estate plan than preparing all of the necessary documents with your attorney. If you’re leaving a considerable amount of money and/or other assets to your children, it’s important to talk with them about handling the wealth that they will one day inherit.

Few people are comfortable with talking about money, let alone what will happen when they die. That’s why it’s best when this can be done in a relaxed atmosphere, such as during a family vacation or over the holidays.

You may not want to specify in your will just how you want your adult children to spend the money you leave them. However, you can and should share with them what kind of legacy you hope they’ll use their inherited wealth to carry on. If you’ve been sharing your values with them their entire lives, none of this information should be news to them. However, it’s important that they know your expectations that they’ll carry your values into the future.

It’s also important to go over some key points about your estate plan and documents, at least with the person who will be handling your estate, if it’s one of your children:

1. Review your “balance sheet” of assets and debts.
2. Tell them where all of your estate documents are located.
3. Provide them with your estate planning attorney’s information and that of any financial and tax professionals they may need to speak with.
4. Make sure that they have a list of all of your accounts, companies and individuals they’ll need to contact and any passwords they will need.

You may be leaving significantly different amounts to your children or perhaps placing one or more of these children’s assets in a trust. In that case, it may be best to talk with each one separately. If you need any advice regarding how to have this talk with your children and what information to provide them, your California estate planning attorney can help you.

Source: Forbes, “Don’t Let Your Kids Squander Your Wealth – Start Talking To Them,” Rob Clarfeld, Aug. 07, 2017

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When Californians begin the process of estate planning with their attorney, they’re often dealing with documents and terms with which they are only vaguely, if at all, familiar. However, it’s essential to understand what these various documents are and the distinct purposes that they serve. Two common ones are a will and a trust.

The purpose of the will is to detail who will receive your assets after you die and whom you are naming to be the executor. The executor is tasked with making sure that the terms of the will are carried out as you have designated.

Trusts, on the other hand, are contracts that detail how assets will be transferred to beneficiaries you have named. The person who creates the trust is the settlor. The person in charge of managing and disbursing the assets in the trust is the trustee.

Many Californians have a will as well as a trust. It all depends on how much money and other assets you have and how you wish those assets to be disbursed before and/or after you die.

There are multiple types of trusts that can be used to set aside money for children and other dependents. You can place your assets into a living trust that will then make things easier for your executors and heirs after you’ve passed away.

Every person’s situation is unique. That’s why it’s essential to sit down with an experienced California estate planning attorney to determine what documents will best help you accomplish your goals for your assets and the people and/or organizations you want to benefit from them.

Source: Lake County News, “Estate Planning: The differences between a trust and a will,” Dennis Fordham, Aug. 05, 2017

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Determining when it is time for a loved one to move into a nursing home is a tough process. Many people try to put this off as long as they can, but doing so can cause some hardships on the caregivers.

Making decisions like this will sometimes take a team effort. Your loved one’s medical care team might assist with this process since they can help you to understand what your loved one truly needs.

Increasingly needing more care

There might come a point when you realize that your loved one is needing a lot more help and care than what they formerly required. This is one sign that you need to consider a skilled nursing facility or an assisted living facility.

Some elderly people might try to stay at home by hiring caregivers, but this isn’t always ideal. Ultimately, you have to think about what is best for your loved one.

Aggressive or violent tendencies

Aggression and violent tendencies can occur as people age, especially when dementia is a factor. This behavior often requires skilled care. Trying to make things work out with keeping the person at home once these behaviors have started could end up making the people who care for them feel resentful.

Safety concerns

Keeping your loved ones safe is a primary concern as they age. This can be difficult to do. As dementia sets in, the person might wander. This could be very dangerous because the person can leave home without people knowing. Once they leave, they might not be able to get back home safely. In these cases, you might need to consider a memory care unit that can keep your loved one safe.

Conservatorship

If your loved one isn’t able to make decisions for himself or herself, you might need to explore the possibility of a conservatorship. A conservatorship means that the court will appoint a conservator to handle the person’s affairs. This can be a person or an organization, depending on what is necessary.

Make sure that you think carefully when you are handling these types of affairs for your loved one. This is a time that requires careful balance because you don’t want the adult to feel like a disenfranchised and powerless child. Instead, work on finding the best balance you possibly can.

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Estate plans are something that your loved ones might have in place to make it easy to handle their estate when they pass away. It is possible that some family members might fight against these estate plans, but they must have a good reason to do so.

At Conver & Grebe LLP, we understand that you are probably ready to just have the whole ordeal behind you. Whether you are the person who is contesting the estate plan or fighting back against it, we can help you assert your side of the case. This is a very difficult time for everyone, so being able to think about things with a clear head might be helpful.

There are several reasons why a person might opt to contest a will. One is that they have reason to think that the person was coerced into making the estate plan in a certain manner. Being coerced into certain decisions can invalidate a will.

We understand that you need to find out how you can handle this situation. The answer isn’t easy. You are likely facing family members whom you love, which makes the situation even more difficult. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to make this any easier. However, we can help you determine what your legal options are for resolving the situation.

Ultimately, the most important thing in these situations is to ensure that your loved one’s wishes are being followed. When there are questions about the estate plan, this goal is something that might be difficult to attain. We can work with you to determine your options.

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