The content of an estate plan is a compilation of wishes and how to make them come true. Los Angeles estate planning attorneys act as translators and communicators so individual desires are carried forward legally, properly and completely.

The inventory calculations that precede drafting estate planning documents include a valuation of assets and feelings. Most people want family members to be the recipients of their worldly wealth. “Family” has both personal and sometimes conflicting legal definitions.

Estate and tax laws are clear about relationships with traditional ties – spouses, children, parents and siblings. Inheritance rules are not so forgiving for personal bonds that fall outside these limited categories.

Married partners receive automatic legal benefits including rights to inherit that are unavailable to unmarried partners. Probate courts view spouses as default heirs even when decedents leave behind no estate plan. The privilege is not granted to cohabiting partners.

Wills and trusts give individuals the opportunity to choose an unconventional asset recipient. To be effective, document alterations must also take place outside an estate plan. Unmarried partners must be designated as beneficiaries to insurance proceeds, bank accounts and retirement and investment plans.

Complete estate plans also contain legal directives in the event of an individual’s incapacity during life. Restrictive laws frequently exclude unmarried partners from participating in critical decisions for a loved one who cannot decide for himself. Even funeral and burial arrangements are the exclusive domain of legal family members.

Estate planning documents exist that help empower unmarried partners to take primary legal roles they otherwise would be prohibited from performing. Powers of attorney grant designees the rights to manage finances and make difficult medical choices for an incapacitated non-spouse.

California residents who receive professional legal advice can ensure that nontraditional partners are lawfully included in an estate plan. With the proper documents in place, the unique, personal definitions of family and beneficiaries are honored in legal proceedings.

Source:  nwitimes.com, “ESTATE PLANNING: Do non-married couples need to plan?” Christopher W. Yugo, May. 18, 2013

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It could be difficult to find one person in California to disagree that ex-child star Amanda Bynes has been acting strangely. Trouble with Los Angeles police led to the young woman’s arrest last year on DUI and hit-and-run charges. Bynes has since fled the city for New York, where her unusual behavior continues to attract attention.

Observers might wonder why the former star’s relatives, manager or friends haven’t stepped in to help Bynes. After all, singer and former child star Britney Spears was placed under a conservatorship by a probate court. Why not Bynes?

Until a court recently granted 27-year-old Bynes access to her $8 million net worth, the ex-star’s wealth had been managed by her parents. A court might rule that Bynes is incapable of caring for herself and her finances as a judge once did about Britney Spears. The difference between the two former child stars is that Spears exhibited dangerous behavior while Bynes’ actions, at least so far, have been only bizarre.

Like Spears, Bynes shaved her head. Bynes also posted questionable tweets, videos and images online. Legal experts say the “retired” actress could have mental health problems.

None of these behaviors appears normal but, at the same time, the activities do not qualify Bynes for conservatorship. A probate court would consider conservatorship if it could be proven that Bynes was a danger to herself or someone else.

Spears was a mother of two at the time her conservatorship was approved. Bynes has no spouse or dependents. She has not reached the point where her parents could take legal action. Should Bynes ever become dangerous, concerned individuals could intervene.

Experts point out that Amanda Bynes’ off-the-wall conduct may get undue attention because of her one-time star status. Everyday people with the same strange symptoms might just be labeled peculiar, which does not meet standards for conservatorship in a California probate court.

Source:  foxnews.com, “Why Amanda Bynes is not eligible for conservatorship, while Britney Spears is” Hollie McKay, May. 01, 2013

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The short answer is “Yes,” although the emotional response is usually “Why would you do that?” Los Angeles attorneys know that no two estate plans or plan creators are exactly alike. Individual personalities, family disputes and relationship dynamics color the content of wills, trusts and other estate documents.

Legitimate reasons exist for a parent to disinherit a child. A common belief is that children cannot be excluded from a parent’s estate. That is often, but not always, the case when a person dies without a will in place. The intention to disinherit a child must be included in a decedent’s estate plan.

Intestate succession laws in California are designed to give probate judges guidance when deciding how estate assets are divided. The laws are enforced when an individual dies without a will or with an invalid will. Spouses and domestic partners are first in line to inherit property followed by children and parents.

Legal connections and bloodlines define children with inheritance rights. A natural or adopted child has property rights that stepchildren or foster children do not.

Keep in mind intestacy statutes apply when no outline of asset distribution exists. An individual with an indisputable will may disinherit a child.

No law requires a parent to pass property to a child. Simply dropping a name from a will opens the door for a court to conclude that the decedent made a mistake. A will should state exact intentions including whether an heir will or will not receive property.

Child disinheritance may stem from a strained or estranged relationship, but sometimes a parent feels one child requires resources that another child does not. A child’s medical needs, employment or relationship status and overall financial situation affect this decision.

Estate planning lawyers realize most parents want children to share in their estate wealth. Parents who make alternate choices must create transparent estate plans that cannot be misinterpreted.

Source:  hometownlife.com, “Clearing up confusion regarding children/stepchildren” Rick Bloom, May. 05, 2013

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One of the primary duties of an estate planning attorney is to translate a person’s wishes into legal language that casts no doubts in court. Heirs, beneficiaries and probate judges cannot quiz a decedent. Estate choices a person makes while alive must be absolutely clear to avoid misinterpretation.

Most California estate plans are not created with the intention to shock heirs and beneficiaries. Disappointment among relatives frequently leads to costly, time-intensive probate litigation. Outdated and poorly-constructed estate plans inadvertently cause family rifts that may never heal.

An elderly Los Angeles widow recently learned the Highland Park home she and her husband once shared was up for probate auction. The 78-year-old stroke victim said she was unaware of any problem with her late husband’s estate until the day the auction sign appeared in the front yard.

The couple was not married but shared the 780-foot cottage for 27 years. The state maintains a registry for domestic partnerships but does not acknowledge common law marriages, even when couples do.

The widow said her husband signed a will before his 2011 death that left the cottage to her. She assumed the mortgage had been satisfied. The county claims back taxes are owed and lists the woman as a renter, not a homeowner.

County officials notified the woman there was a probate problem. The widow’s health concerns apparently caused her to miss a deadline to dispute the issue. The woman also claims she checked with the tax assessor’s office to make sure property taxes were up to date.

The county will auction the house as planned. The buyer must attend a confirmation hearing within 60 days of the sale. The hearing will give the elderly woman a final opportunity to state her case. An estate planning attorney would be invaluable to help prove the validity of the late husband’s will in the widow’s quest to save her home.

Source:  articles.latimes.com, “Woman, 78, could lose home in probate confusion” Bob Pool, Apr. 26, 2013

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Periodic reviews of California estate plans are necessary to keep legal documents in line with personal, family and financial changes. Anticipated events, like marriage or childbirth, and unfortunate occurrences, like divorce or family death, can have instant effects on estate planning documents.

Drafting estate planning documents takes extensive thought and planning. It makes no sense to throw out all that effort by failing to update wills and associated estate documents.

While making a legal appointment to go over the plan you’ve already created, add virtual assets to the discussion list. This is a relatively new concern among estate planners who feel current laws do not thoroughly cover post-mortem digital property rights.

Some people manage online estate assets by simply leaving behind usernames and passwords to an executor, trustee or family member. For security and legal reasons, financial, social media and other websites often block access to accounts of deceased users.

Google has come up with an idea for users of the company’s multiple online services. A customer-directed feature called “Inactive Account Manager” forwards account data to another source or deletes the account following a set period of inactivity.

Company officials said Google users choose how long an account could be idle before the feature is activated. So a YouTube or Google+ account won’t be altered by mistake, customers would receive warning emails that a “timeout” deadline was approaching.

Users also decide where the data is forwarded, whether that person is a named estate beneficiary or someone else.

The feature and others like it would have come in handy a few years ago for the family of a soldier killed in Iraq. Loved ones were forced to go to court over access to the Marine’s Yahoo email account. Yahoo denied the family access due to privacy rules in the company’s terms of service.

An attorney will provide solutions for smooth passage of digital rights to heirs.

Source: google.com, “Google adds ‘digital estate planning’ to its services,” April 11, 2013

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Los Angeles attorneys will answer “no” to this question, but there are good reasons. The focus of estate planning seems to have narrowed to tax avoidance, which legal experts admit is a vital part of any estate plan. Many individuals forget that complete plans go well beyond keeping assets from the IRS.

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was an anxiety reliever for many Californians. The law continued generous estate tax and gift exemptions. The $5.25 million individual threshold for tax-free gift giving or asset transfers eliminated tax worries for many wealthy people.

A portability feature also allows a decedent to pass an unused gift or tax exemption onto a surviving spouse. With most of the tax bases covered, are estate plans still worth the investment?

Yes, and here’s why. Did you create your wealth so someone else could decide how it will be divided?

Without a will, probate takes the reins of asset distribution because a decedent’s preferences are not clarified. Laws of descent and distribution are applied. The court dictates who gets what and how much.

What if the judge decides a family member will receive your property, but the relative is unprepared to handle it? An estate plan can include a trust to direct the flow and management of assets under a trustee.

Death is not the starting point for most estate plans. Many people become incapacitated before they die. A durable power of attorney allows an individual to hand pick a money manager to take his place during life in the event of incapacity. An advanced health care directive similarly allows individuals to make medical decisions before age, accident or illness intervenes.

Estate tax and gift benefits are tremendous, but they aren’t everything necessary to an estate plan. Estate planning suddenly regains importance when people realize strangers could be making decisions about the assets they’ve worked so hard to accumulate.

Source: clarionledger.com, “Advice: Estate planning still has its place,” Tyler Ball, April 6, 2013

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The subject of gay marriage drew a negative reaction from most U.S. residents in polls taken a decade ago. At the time, Pew Research Center reported a 58 percent opposition to same-sex marriage. A new survey shows a remarkable change in society. The gay marriage approval rate shot up to 49 percent.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments on two cases, one of them concerning California’s Proposition 8 law which limits legal marriage to a male-female union. The justices’ rulings in June could impact pensions, taxes, real estate ownership, insurances, health care, wills and estate administration for gay couples.

The acceptance or recognition of same-gender marriage remains the option of states. Nine states permit gay marriages. Others have legalized civil unions or have laws that recognize existing same-sex marriages. Many states still forbid and refuse to acknowledge gay marriage.

The dissolution of the Defense of Marriage Act would usher in wide changes in federal laws with implications for estate planners, heirs and beneficiaries. DOMA, like the California statute, restricts marriage to an opposite-gender state.

Under DOMA, gay spouses cannot take advantage of estate tax deductions or other legal and federal benefits. A Supreme Court ruling that declares DOMA unconstitutional would give same-sex spouses the same inheritance rights as heterosexual spouses. Right now, many gay couples use insurance or some other financial backup plan to make up for lost heir and beneficiary assets.

Many estate planning observers who heard the Supreme Court debate on gay rights believe DOMA’s chances for survival are short-lived. Some analysts also believe the Proposition 8 case will result in a compromise ruling that throws the issue back to state voters.

Some tax professionals are advising married gay couples to request filing extensions and prepare amendments for past, single-status tax returns. Estate planning attorneys are cautiously waiting for potential changes that would have extensive impact on clients and the ones they love.

Source: investmentnews.com, “Gay marriage would shake up benefits game,” Liz Skinner, March 31, 2013

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Tara Tyson Kulukundis was never well-known for her acting talents in New York or Los Angeles. The off-broadway and bit-part television actress did enjoy some notoriety decades ago and lived a comfortable lifestyle, at least until the death of her husband Manuel Michael Kulukundis.

The late, Greek-shipping tycoon died three years ago leaving behind a trust containing about $50 million for his heirs. Very little of the family members’ inheritance was liquid. Two executors were assigned to settle four valuable properties, including a New York beach home that the 68-year-old widow has refused to vacate.

The widow apparently has no ownership rights to the four properties, including the $25 million mansion where she is sequestered. The executors want to close the sale on the five-bedroom beach house to satisfy a $10 million mortgage.

Manuel Kulukundis also left behind more than $20 million in unpaid, combined mortgages on several other properties. Most of the real estate has been sold and settled to rid the estate of debt and support what court records call the widow’s “extravagant lifestyle.”

The beach home’s settlement date is set, but Tara Tyson Kulukundis has steadfastly refused to move, even at the urging of her son. The widow switched the locks and chased away moving companies multiple times.

This is not the first time the two fiduciaries went rounds with Kulukundis’s widow over estate assets. The one-time actress barred auction appraisers from valuing the mansion’s artwork in 2011.

The executors have petitioned a court to force the widow to move out. A court ruling is pending, which may delay the property settlement or altogether scotch the sale.

When California estate plans are well thought out, beneficiaries and heirs receive assets through a transition with as little friction as possible. Legal conflicts often surface when heirs receive fewer or less valuable assets than expected or fail to get assets they hoped to have.

Source: nydailynews.com, “Actress Tara Tyson Kulukundis clings to her late hubby’s Southampton mansion, refuses to leave despite $25M sale,” Barbara Ross and Corky Siemaszko, March 21, 2013

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Many people in California are familiar with mediation in divorce. Spouses who employ mediators often save money and time by resolving sticky issues like asset disputes without prolonged, emotion-fueled litigation.

For many of the same reasons, mediation is also used to settle heirs’ arguments over estates. Successful mediation is a low-key answer to what otherwise might be a lengthy, costly, unsatisfactory battle in probate.

Heirs can get into tooth-and-nail disagreements about assets with little or no value. It is not uncommon for family members to be in complete agreement about the distribution of multimillion dollar assets. The same relatives may squabble indefinitely over a far less expensive item that has emotional and personal value.

Why do these wild, family-splitting episodes happen? Mediators and attorneys say interpretation of vague estate documents has a lot to do with it. Estate plans with pristine outlines for tax savings and probate avoidance can include wills with undefined wording.

The person who creates an estate plan sometimes is more comfortable with financial challenges than getting down to the basics of death. Estate documents’ words become easy to avoid when the subject of death is too harsh to face.

Division of families over the division of an estate also occurs when heirs harbour private thoughts about how assets are distributed. A child secretly hopes for years that a parent will bequeath them a certain item. When the desire is not fulfilled after the parent’s death, the hidden wish is revealed and the fireworks begin.

Families may experience a downside by using an estate mediator. Heirs come to agreements during mediation that are frequently reviewed by individual attorneys before signing. When attorneys disagree about the settlement terms, mediation falls apart.

What heirs, mediators and attorneys have learned is that estate plan documents without explicit direction cause strife. The wording used to distribute assets is just as crucial as the assets themselves.

Source: online.wsj.com, “If Heirs Are Fighting, Try Mediation,” Robbie Shell, March 15, 2013

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Sometimes incapacity prevents a person, like an elderly parent or a developmentally disabled child, from making sound life decisions. Conservatorships provide a legal remedy to protect vulnerable loved ones from financial and other abuses.

Probate conservatorship is the judicial process by which a conservator is appointed to make choices for a conservatee. With proof of incapacity and a court’s permission, some or all of the legal and civil rights of a conservatee are transferred to a conservator.

Decisions about where to live, how to spend money and when to seek medical treatment become the conservator’s responsibility. Dementia patients may require someone else to make all their life decisions. In a limited conservatorship, reserved only for developmentally disabled adults, certain personal rights may be retained.

Parents often seek a limited conservatorship for a developmentally disabled child who is on the brink of legal adulthood. Without conservatorship, parents may not interfere with an adult child’s decisions even when the choices cause personal or financial ruin. Limited conservatorships extend parents’ rights and give grown children some decision-making leeway.

Developmentally disabled adults, affected by conditions like epilepsy, autism or intellectual incapacity, often have the ability to manage some of their own needs. Courts help establish which choices will be made by a conservator and which will be made by the conservatee.

A limited conservatee may be capable of choosing a residence or educational goals but incapable of making medical decisions, understanding contracts or directing interpersonal relationships. The cases can be customized to fit a conservatee’s abilities.

Conservatees are supported by nonprofit regional centers that provide contracted services and foster a disabled person’s independence. The centers provide assessments in conservatorship cases with reports of disabled individuals’ abilities and limitations.

Parents who wish to petition for a limited conservatorship may begin the legal action before a child’s eighteenth birthday. Attorneys recommend an early filing so the conservatorship is in place the moment a developmentally disabled child transitions to adulthood.

Source: lakeconews.com, “Estate Planning: Limited conservatorships and developmentally disabled persons,” Dennis Fordham, March 9, 2013

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