Yet another great speaker at the most recent American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys Summit was Elaine McIntosh, President and CEO of Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care. Her talk covered a wide range of matters, but I wanted to share a few: Hospice care is related to general palliative (pain- or problem-relieving) care, and […]

Need help motivating your spouse to meet with a Will and Estate lawyer here in Santa Clara? We know from experience that the legal planning process is usually initiated by one spouse and is often met with hesitation by the other. It is understandable why one or both spouses would be reluctant to meet with […]

When clients come to see a Bay Area estate planning lawyer, they generally have multiple goals in mind. Interestingly, they don’t always realize this fact, thinking that they “just” need to put together a will that stipulates who gets what after they have passed away. While this is obviously a very important part of what […]

Here at Brainin Law Office, our entire legal team is passionate about helping parents name legal guardians for their children. It’s a critical step that allows parents to document the people they want and trust to raise their kids if they are incapacitated or unexpectedly pass away. But there is another area of planning for […]

If you are over 70 ½ years old, you can donate some or all of your IRA to an eligible charity of your choice. Using a Qualified Charitable Distribution, you can donate directly from you IRA to the charity. Not only is this a great way to support your favorite charities, there are also some […]

Most people are familiar with the two types of IRAs, Traditional and Roth. Briefly: traditional IRAs are both tax-deductible (you don’t pay income tax on the money that’s contributed, up to an annual limit) and tax deferred (you don’t pay taxes on the earnings inside the IRA), but you pay income tax on all the […]

Following the shocking death of Prince, folks across the country were equally shocked to learn that the musical genius died without a Will or Trust in place to deal with the distribution of his fortune and valuable music catalogue when he passed away. Dying without a Will in his home state of Minnesota now means […]

When making an estate plan and Last Will and Testament, many people have a difficult time deciding who should be the Executor of their estate. Oftentimes they will consider naming Co-Executors—two or more people who serve as executor of the estate. Each Co-Executor named in your Last Will and Testament will have authority over your […]

Last month, we talked about California’s new Revocable Transfer on Death Deed, which will become available on January 1, 2016. This is a new law, so many of the details have yet to be determined, but based on what we know now here are a few reasons you might not want to use one: 1. No Medi-Cal Protection. […]

Many grandparents wish to leave a legacy behind for their grandchildren. However, they may run into some issues if those children are underage. A Bay Area Wills and Trusts attorney can help you determine what the best options are for leaving assets to underage beneficiaries, whether those assets are held in a Will or Trust, […]