“How much do you tell your kids? When do you tell them? Is it possible to tell your kids too much, too soon? What happens if you tell them too little, too late?”  These are common questions that come up when deciding whether to involve adult children in the Santa Clara estate planning process. The […]

A revocable living trust protects your privacy, avoids probate, and determines who will handle your affairs while you’re incapacitated and after you’ve passed away. It’s an essential element for estate plans as it provides an extra layer of protection to your estate and gives you the peace of mind that your wishes will be carried […]

Here’s a common horror story: a father remarries late in life to a woman with her own kids. The father does not create a Last Will and Testament. When the father dies, his estate goes entirely to his new wife since she is his next of kin according to the laws of intestacy. When the […]

Most people are familiar with the term “life estate” as a way to give someone “life rights” to a property. While a life estate does accomplish this goal, choosing to set up a life estate is not a one-size-fits-all solution and may even cause serious consequences for everyone involved. What is a Life Estate? A […]

As the coronavirus continues to affect life as we know it here in the United States, the most common question we’ve been asked during the course of the pandemic is whether an existing estate plan should be changed or updated. Of course, the answer to that question (like most things in life) is that it […]

A Special Needs Trust (SNT) is a complex legal tool set up on behalf of a person with special needs or disabilities. The SNT allows a beneficiary with special needs to safely take advantage of money or property in the trust without jeopardizing the ability to collect needs-based public benefits such as Supplemental Security Income […]

Santa Clara County probate lawyers hear quite regularly from heirs who are shocked to learn that the property they inherited from a loved one comes with a mortgage. Now what? It’s important to know that a mortgage does not die when the owner does. How that mortgage is dealt with depends on a variety of […]

As we continue on in this time of social distancing and, in some communities, shelter-in-place, more and more people are faced with a difficult situation: handling out-of-state probate proceedings after the death of a loved one. Many seniors today are “snowbirds” who spend their winters in warmer states like Florida while keeping their actual residency […]

There are several strategies available that Bay Area estate planning lawyers use to help seniors and their families avoid lengthy and costly probate proceedings, including adding other people as joint owners on their accounts or making beneficiary designations on accounts and policies. However, these strategies should only be done under the supervision of an experienced […]

A conservatorship is when a person is appointed by the court to look after another person’s financial and physical well-being. This is not always a great situation to be in since the court may appoint someone who would never be chosen by the individual or their family. Fortunately, there are a few simple ways to […]