Creating a living will allows you to be in control of the medical treatment you receive when you are unable to vocalize these wishes yourself. This clarification of your wishes may avoid family conflicts. According to Oncologist Dr. Lyckholm, when families make medical decisions for loved ones “they’re not talking about what that person wants, they’re talking about what they want.”

If your loved one is getting ill and does not have a living will, it is important to sit down with them and have a conversation about their wishes. Encourage them to complete a living will if they are cognitively able. While an attorney is not necessary in order to document your loved one’s wishes, hiring an attorney to draft the living will is a good way to ensure that it will be valid and enforceable.

If you would like expert assistance with preparing a living will for yourself or a loved one, or for any other estate planning questions, call us at 818.956.9200.

Whether you are aware of who your named beneficiaries are or not, it is important to review these designations periodically. You may have opened your first IRA or 401(k) many years ago when your life was different. An obvious beneficiary choice twenty years ago may not be your first choice today.

A recent article suggests reviewing your beneficiary designations annually. Even if your life circumstances have not drastically changed, companies that manage IRAs and similar accounts are apt to change plan custodians and insurance providers. It is common for paperwork to get lost when companies make even minor changes. If your beneficiary designation is lost, your assets will go to the default beneficiary. The default beneficiary may not be the person you would have selected.

If you would like expert assistance with reviewing the beneficiaries of your various accounts, or for any other estate planning questions, call us at 818.956.9200.

The power of attorney is a legal document that allows an agent to make legal and financial decisions on behalf the principal if and when he or she unable to make the decisions. According to the MetLife Mature Market Institute, annual losses from financial abuse are currently at $2.9 billion. Experts believe this number will continue to climb.

The first step towards avoiding financial abuse from a future agent is selecting an agent that you feel you can trust. This necessarily requires selecting a power of attorney when you are still mentally able to make these decisions without being unduly influenced by another person.

Further steps a person can take against potential abuse include revisiting their power of attorney document annually, to ensure that they still feel that they can trust their named agent. If a loved one’s power of attorney has taken over for them, contact the relevant financial institutions and ask them to alert you of any changes in the account. This may alert you to potential abuse early on. If you discover that an agent designated under a power of attorney for a loved one has abused their position, contact an attorney immediately.

If you believe a loved one has been the victim of financial abuse, or for any other estate planning questions, call us at 818.956.9200.

One common problem with distributing family heirlooms is determining a method of equitable distribution. By their very nature some objects will be more valuable than others. One way to avoid argument is to specifically bequest who is to receive certain items. In making a specific bequest, you can group different heirlooms together to leave each beneficiary with a comparable value of items.

You can also dictate that the items will be divided as beneficiaries agree, in shares as equal as possible. This solution can be dangerous if several beneficiaries all want the same item. It is often necessary to have an attorney or other third party preside over the distribution to ensure that it is as fair as possible. If you don’t believe that your beneficiaries can amicably decide on a scheme of distribution, you can have your personal representative divide the items into as many equal lots as there are beneficiaries, than allow the beneficiaries to randomly choose a lot.

If you would like expert assistance with providing for the distribution of your family heirlooms, or for any other estate planning questions, call us at 818.956.9200.

One common question is, “How long is the new estate tax going to last?” Many business owners are skeptical that the newly implemented estate tax will not be as permanent as it has been touted to be. According to Terry Stanaland, national speaker and author on tax planning, people can expect the new estate tax to be around for the foreseeable future. As the estate tax has been a hot-button issue, Stanaland believes that the recent compromise may stick around for a while.

Clients are also commonly inquiring into the benefits of creating a C corporation. According to Stanaland, this structure may again become popular because the top marginal bracket for C corporations is now lower than that for individuals. Therefore, use of the C corporation form may lead to lower taxes. Moreover, a C corporation is extremely flexible, making tax avoidance even more possible. Indeed, more and more business owners are again considering formation as a C corporation.

If you would like expert assistance with tax planning for your business, or for any other estate planning questions, call us at 818.956.9200.

Even for estates that seem simple, there are countless nuances in estate planning law that non-lawyers simply would not think of. Beyond legal nuances, simple errors can also lead to expensive problems down the road.

In one instance, a client decided to make his own trust using a 3-page form he purchased at an office store. The man meant to transfer the deed to his home into the trust, but accidentally dated the deed one-year prior to the actual date. Later, when the man attempted to borrow against the house, he was not able to because the title company determined that he did not have a clear chain of title to the home.

It ended up costing the man approximately $2,000 in legal fees to fix the problem. According to the article, this is approximately twice what he would have had to pay in 1984, when he drafted the document, to have a law firm create the trust for him.

To speak with an estate planning professional about creating a trust, or for any other estate planning questions, call us at 818.956.9200.

It is first important to note that, more often than not, a lawsuit will settle before it goes to trial. Therefore, there are many more cases for which the asset protection maneuvers were successful, however the case did not proceed to trial.

For those cases that do proceed to trial, the odds are usually stacked in the favor of the creditor. This is because judges typically want to see their judgments enforced, and feel that the debtor should simply pay the debt rather than waste the court’s time. The longer a case lasts, the more annoyed the judge may get with the debtor. With this in mind, creditors attorneys often look for every opportunity to bring the debtor before the court in an attempt to anger the court.

Moreover, if the case is not going well for the creditor, the creditor can simply settle or drop the case. On the other hand, the debtor must litigate regardless of his circumstances, as he has no choice but to keep fighting.

For assistance with asset protection planning, call us at 818.956.9200.

Step One: Make a List
In order to make a digital estate plan, it is important to know exactly what assets you are planning for. To start the process of digital estate planning, make a list of all of your digital accounts. This includes not only social media, but also include email accounts, investment and bank accounts, and gaming accounts. Your list should include your username, password, and security question answers.

Step Two: Put Someone in Charge
Step two is to designate the person you would like to be in charge of your digital assets after your death. In your will, designate that your administrator should find that list and give it to the person in charge. Be sure to include instructions for what you would like the person to do with your accounts.

Step Three: Will Power
It is also important to include your digital assets in your will. According to a McAffee survey, “on average Americans believe the financial and emotional value of their digital assets are worth about $55,000.” Through your will, you can pass on online information of value.

Step Four: Hope for the Best
As is often the case with estate planning, a person can do everything “right” and still not reach the desired outcome. This is especially true with digital assets, as the law surrounding such assets is relatively unclear.

For assistance in dealing with your digital assets, call us at 818.956.9200.

How Far Does My Will Go?
Your will does not take effect until after you have died. Therefore, it is important to execute several other estate planning documents that assist you while you are still alive. These documents include a health care directive, as well as a financial and health care power of attorney.

How Do I Meet the Needs of My Heirs?
When distributing assets to your heirs, there is a distinct difference between being fair and being equal. A person may have one heir who is in greater need than the other heirs. Moreover, if you have a family business, one heir may be best equipped to take it over. By taking time to split assets appropriately, you can avoid the time and infighting that may have otherwise ensued.

How Do My Asset Documents Work Together?
It is important to realize which documents supersede others. For example, for any document that has a beneficiary designation, the beneficiary designation supersedes any designation you may have made in your will.

If you wish to discuss these key questions or want to discuss your particular situation in detail, please contact us at 818.956.9200.

According to a recent article, decedents often fail to adequately provide for the surviving spouse they left behind. This often occurs because as couples accumulated greater wealth, they live enhanced lifestyles and subsequently fail to take these lifestyles into account when drafting their wills. In this instance, many people underestimate the amount they will need to continue to support their enhanced lifestyle into retirement.

If a dependent who is not adequately provided for decides to make a support claim, this may often result in a long, drawn-out process. Naturally, such legal claims can quickly result in bitter fights between family members, as well as disputes over what amount the decedent wished to leave various dependents, and what amount was actually left.

The only way to assist your dependents in avoiding this process is to draft a carefully thought-out estate plan that adequately provides for your dependents. It is important to speak with an estate planning attorney to get a realistic, outside perspective of what amount is necessary to maintain the expected standard of living, as well as to plan for contingencies you may not anticipate.

To review or plan your estate with an experienced estate planning attorney, call us at 818.956.9200.