Estate Planning & Trust Administration for Families & Individuals
throughout the Bay Area
Everybody is going to die,
and some of us will become incapacitated before we die.
Our incapacity and death
may be hard for those around us,
but if we became incapacitated or die
without the right paperwork in place it will be even harder.
Estate planning keeps incapacity and death
from being and worse than it has to be.
'Estate Plans' are simply a set of legally binding documents that say what happens
to us and our stuff if we become incapacitated and after we die.
The 5 documents everybody needs
LIVING TRUSTS avoid the expense, delay and public nature of Probate if your gross estate exceeds $184,500. The minimum cost of Probate in California is over $7,000, which is more than the cost of a Living Trust. Trusts allow your Successor Trustees to manage your assets for your benefit and the benefit of your loved ones, according to your detailed instructions, if you become disabled, and after you’re gone, without the need, expense, public exposure or delay of having to go to court.
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Trusts require two successor Trustees
POUR OVER WILLS accompany every Living Trust and are used to put omitted assets into the trust after the Trustmaker’s death, if necessary, and where guardianship is addressed so should guardianship be necessary the Trust itself isn't part of the public court record.
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Wills may require Guardians, and I recommend your Executors are same as your successor Trustees
GENERAL DURABLE POWERS OF ATTORNEY enable your Agent to exercise your personal rights during incapacity like filing insurance claims and lawsuits, paying taxes, applying for public benefits and taking distributions from retirement accounts.
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I recommend your agents on your Power of Attorney are same as your successor Trustees
ADVANCE HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVES let you to direct exactly what kind of medical decisions your Healthcare Agents will make on your behalf if you can no longer make those decisions for yourself including extraordinary life support, organ donation, burial or cremation, disposition and memorial instructions
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Health Care agents do not necessarily have to be the same as your successor Trustees
HIPAA AUTHORIZATIONS allows Healthcare Agents, successor Trustees and others you name to communicate with doctors and nurses to find out how you are doing if you are unable to communicate with them yourself.
My philosophy is a simple commitment to creating estate plans that not only carry out my client's wishes while they are alive and well, but also protects them and their family in case of an illness or disability, and simplifies the transition and administration process after they die, all at the lowest overall costs to my client and their loved ones.
Estate planning is something that unless you've been through it before, you really don't know what you don't know, and people are uncomfortable with the discussion about incapacity and death to begin with, so they go with whatever suggestions the attorney makes, without fully understanding all their options and fully appreciating the consequences of their answers.
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My initial consultation is always complimentary because there is so much people need to understand about the estate planning process before they can decide of I am the right attorney for them to work with. The meeting takes about an hour and I answer all your questions and concerns as I explain the difference between Wills and Trusts, and give real life examples of how all the documents we're talking about come into play and why it's important to fully understand how the choices they make now will play out once they're gone.
One of the biggest mistake I see other attorney's allowing clients to make is giving children too much too soon People who earn wealth have a different relationship to it than those who grew up with it and inherit it one day, so it's vital that an inheritance be structured in such a way so as not to disincentivize young adults from getting a life of their own so that when they get the money it enhances their life, not ruins it.
There is more to say than I can put on a website, so if you're interested in talking let me know.
What makes me a little different
- Complimentary initial consultations & document reviews
- Flat fees - no hourly charges
- Housecalls, evening and weekend appointments standard
- Unique counseling options:
* Incentive Based Distributions to incentivize hard work
* Substance Abuse Language to protect addicted beneficiaries
* Discretionary Distributions
- Trust funding included
- Unlimited changes for one year from the date of signing
- Free phone calls and emails for life