By Bay Area Trust and Estates Lawyer, Gary Brainin For some families, bankruptcy is the only way out from living under a mountain of debt. Filing for bankruptcy is a not a decision most people enter into lightly as the process can have a number of long-term and severe consequences. One such consequence that tends […]

As a Santa Clara will and estates attorney, I’m often asked, “How does a Healthcare Directive or Living Will work in California?” Essentially, in California an Advance Healthcare Directive, sometimes referred to as a Living Will, is a legal document that spells out your wishes for healthcare if you are incapacitated or otherwise unable to […]

Raising a child with special needs is challenging. Sadly, the stress of the situation contributes to a high rate of divorce among couples who are raising children with special needs. In fact, it is estimated that the rate of divorce in these households are between 80% and 90%. If you are going through a divorce […]

As a Santa Clara will and trust lawyer, I can tell you the answer to this question and so many other estate planning questions is, “Yes, but….” It is true that if you own an asset jointly with rights of survivorship in California, the joint tenant will automatically retain ownership of the property when you […]

As a Bay Area trust attorney, I know that a family home or vacation property is often the most valuable asset in a person’s estate. While the homeowner may want to leave their cherished property to children or other beneficiaries as an inheritance, taxes can quickly thwart well-meaning plans. The sad truth is that, without […]

Serious health diagnoses can impact your life in huge ways and may bring concerns you haven’t thought of up to the forefront. One of those concerns, which is often pushed off when everything is going well, is estate planning and/or elder law planning. Planning can give you the peace of mind knowing that your family […]

As a Silicon Valley estate planning attorney, I have seen many unfortunate circumstances where a person goes through the time and expense of having an estate plan created only to fail to update their beneficiaries on their financial or retirement accounts before they pass away. An example of this would be Mary naming her brother […]

When it comes to asset protection planning for retirement and leaving legacies to your loved ones, there are several different trusts available that can help accomplish your goals. One type of trust I recommend as a Bay Area trust attorney, called an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT), ensures that the benefits of your life insurance […]

Santa Clara Special Needs Lawyer: Use Your IRA to Benefit a Special Needs Charity or Non-Profit You Care About If you are over 70 ½ years old, you can donate some or all over your IRA to an eligible charity or non-profit of your choice. Using a Qualified Charitable Distribution, you can donate directly from […]

Ask a Santa Clara County Estate Planning Lawyer: “I Just Discovered a Long-Lost Sister. Can She Inherit Dad’s Estate?” This may sound like a situation from a movie, but it happens more frequently than you might imagine: a long-lost child appears after the death of their parent. This is an alarming situation for many reasons, […]