Modern Estate Planning Blog

The first week of December has been designated Older Driver Awareness Week. Gold River Elder Law Attorney Heather Chubb urges the community to include future transportation needs in their long-term care planning.

It’s officially December, which means the “snowbirds” are starting to take flight! As an elder attorney in Sacramento, I am all too familiar with this term! However, if you aren’t familiar with snowbirds, they are essentially people who take flight every winter in favor of a warmer climate.

Regardless of who you fellowship with this time of year, the holidays are an excellent time to pay close attention to aging relatives and note any changes that may indicate the need for increased care. This is especially important for people who have aging relatives that live alone or do not have a solid family support system at their disposal.

You’ve decided to file for divorce. You’ve spent countless hours researching online, you’ve done your homework about the proceedings and you’ve even narrowed down an attorney you’d like to work with. All bases covered, right?

As a wills lawyer in Sacramento, I’m often asked by well meaning people whether they really need a will if all of their property (house, cars, etc) is jointly owned in the state of California. From an estate planning perspective, this is a great question and my straightforward answer to it is yes and no.

For many people, Sacramento County Probate is extremely confusing. Not only is it confusing, but it’s time consuming, eerily public and a very costly way to have to sort through your loved ones affairs when they are gone.

I often meet with couples who assume that because they’ve lived together for a certain number of years, they will automatically receive their partner’s assets or other inheritance should one of them unexpectedly pass away. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Being a caregiver is a huge responsibility. There are a lot of emotional headaches, financial burdens and pressures that naturally accompany the job. Anyone who takes on this role, whether it relates to caring for their aging parents or someone else in need, has my utmost admiration and respect.

What if I told you the solution is to skip the malls when looking for a holiday gift for your grandkids? What if I told you that you should give them a family limited partnership instead?

As an Sacramento probate attorney, I meet with a number of young families each month who realize they need a will or guardianship nominations to protect their children if something happens to them, but they are have no additional means (or a significant inheritance) that will financially provide for their children in their absence.

I am all too familiar with the following scenario–mom or dad can no longer take care of themselves and the family needs to bring in some form of additional care. Perhaps that’s care from a nursing home, or some help around the house a few days a week, but regardless of services, the family will often require some form of assistance to afford the costs.

As a Sacramento special needs lawyer, I realize disabled and special needs children have unique planning needs. Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions when it comes to securing the financial future your child deserves.

While it is true that the administration and distribution of assets held in a trust following the death of the trust owner is considerably easier and much less time consuming than having to deal with probate, there are still many things that need to be done by the successor trustee before the assets of the trust can be distributed to heirs.

When I begin counseling a new client as a Sacramento trust lawyer, I oftentimes need to take a bit of time to do a “Trust 101” lesson. Trusts can provide huge advantages to those who utilize them, but I find that they are often misunderstood.

As a Gold River probate lawyer, I know the peace of mind you can experience after your estate plan is done is very profound. I’ve had many Gold River probate clients tell me that they get a sense of relief they didn’t even know they needed.

For Sacramento wills and estate lawyers like me, estate planning means so much more than just avoiding taxes and planning for death. Instead, it’s about preserving your “whole family legacy,” which includes family values, traditions and memories should something unexpectedly happen to you.

One of the really sad consequences of the recession was watching the number of families who had to go through bankruptcy. Even worse are those families who stood to inherit cash or items only to have them lost at the hands of the bankruptcy court. Let me explain…

A good, comprehensive estate plan covers so much more than just planning for death, as it should also include provisions to protect your family, assets and wishes in the event of short or long-term incapacity.

I spend a lot of time talking about the need to implement a comprehensive estate plan so your family, assets and wishes stay protected should the unthinkable happen. And while many people “in theory” see the importance of such planning, the truth is that you probably will not be around to see the benefits of your work.

Pre-planning and pre-paying for one’s own funeral is a topic that is coming up more and more with my clients. While this discussion has always been a part of my planning process, it is something that people are bringing up proactively more and more in recent years.