By Gary Brainin, Bay Area Will and Trust Lawyer Based on what I am seeing as a Bay Area will and trust lawyer, more and more people are considering pre-planning and pre-paying for their own funeral. For years, I have recommended that my clients include their wishes for their final arrangements in their estate plans, […]

One of my greatest passions as a Santa Clara estate planning lawyer is educating parents about how important it is to prepare for their untimely death. Not a fun topic, I realize. But it just takes one sad circumstance of parents passing away and leaving the kids to deal with squabbling relatives to understand how […]

By Gary Brainin, Silicon Valley wills lawyer If you own a car, you know it requires regular maintenance in order to perform well and be reliable. When you purchased your car, you probably received a recommended schedule for service. If you follow that schedule, most likely your car will continue to work well. If you […]

When the subject of inheritance is being discussed, people almost always ask this question to their Will and Trust lawyer in Santa Clara County. Here is what you need to know about how you might be taxed on an inheritance. Income Taxes The IRS expects you to report every source of income. This leads many […]

A Power of Attorney is a legal device that is used to give someone the power to act on your behalf if you are unable to. For example, if you have Alzheimer’s disease, there is a possibility that you will get to the point where it is no longer possible for you to make decisions. […]

It’s hard to believe that more than half of all adults in America do not have a Last Will and Testament or Trust in place, especially with so many public stories of celebrities who left their estates a mess by not leaving behind a Will, leaving an invalid Will, or not properly funding their Trusts. […]

If I had to pick one question that I am asked the most, I’d have to say this one ranks way up there… Do I need a new estate plan if I move out of California? Just like the answer to most estate planning questions, the answer is “it depends.” However, this one has a […]

Trusts are important legal relationships that involve a Grantor who creates a Trust to hold property, a Trustee who holds or manages the property in the Trust, and a Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) who eventually receives the property. While there are many types of Trusts, they can be broken down into two categories: Revocable and Irrevocable. […]