Your question isn't entirely clear, so I'll give it a shot and hope it helps. When a parent does estate planning, the parent is dealing with the parent's own assets. In your case, your mother put her own assets (including her home) into her trust. It seems you want to keep your... View More

You'll need a fee exemption code IF the property is your primary residence. If it is not your primary residence, there is no exemption code and your recording fee will increase by $75. [Side note: All of the $75 fees were supposed to go into a fund to provide housing for California's... View More

Each health care directive contains different wording, but the most common language simply says the name(s) of the person or people who have authority to handle the final arrangements. The document doesn’t often say whether someone wants to be buried or cremated, although it’s possible for... View More

Health Care Directives generally only cover health care decisions after a person is no longer able to handle their own decisions due to the loss of their mental capacity, as certified by a physician (as well as any other requirements listed in the directive.)

Durable Power of Attorneys do... View More

California law provides that people in this state who have assets valued at more than $184,500 (that's the gross value or what you could sell the assets for, NOT the net amount of a home minus the mortgage, for example), those people have two choices: (1) each person could have a Will or do... View More

Here are five suggestions: (1) check your grandmother’s address book or cell phone for a lawyer’s title [it may have “Esq.” after the lawyer’s name or it may say “attorney” or “lawyer” after the name] or your grandmother may have a business card near her telephone; (2) check with... View More

Lawyers don't like to be involved in only PART of a legal matter because, if the non-lawyer/client does something that causes problems, the client is likely to blame the lawyer even though the lawyer didn't cause the problem. It's just a recipe for disaster. Plus, most insurance... View More

Most trusts have a section called Trustee Powers. If your particular trust gives that power to your trustee, then the answer to your question is “yes”. But please know that the powers that are given to the trustee may be strewn throughout the trust as well as in the powers section. But the... View More

Yes. The Notice has very specific legal requirements set out in the law. The Notice must contain specific language and it must be served on people named in the trust as well as the heirs at law, which are the people who would have inherited if there were no Trust or Will. It’s impossible for a... View More

A guardian ad litem is a court-appointed representative of a person who is unable to speak for themselves in court. A guardian ad litem is a neutral person (such as an attorney or social worker) who represents children under 18 (minors) or an adult who a physician says lacks sufficient mental... View More

Documents filed with the County Recorder are public records, so you could search the county's records to see what, if anything has been filed by the co-trustee. If you end up having too many communication issues with the co-trustee, the trust likely says how to get rid of the trustee who is... View More

Just having a diagnosis of dementia does not automatically disqualify a person from handling his own assets or health care decisions. A physician must sign a document stating that the person has lost his mental capacity, as that term is defined in the law. Assuming that a physician has certified... View More

The state of California does not have rights to simply take someone's home for no reason. I would start by reviewing the public records on file at the County Recorder of the county in which your grandmother lived. That would give you the first clue into why the state did what it did. But that... View More

You can do what you propose, but the tax consequences don't make it the most appealing way to go. You would be better off setting up a trust so your son will inherit the property after your ex-husband passes. Despite the fact the trust will cost more than one deed, the amount of taxes that... View More

Most commonly, it’s the trust that pays it because the beneficiaries do not own the assets while they are still in the trust. Beneficiaries only get a current ownership interest in an asset when it has been taken out of the trust, all debts of the deceased person are paid in full, and the asset... View More

There are different tax rules relating to non-citizens because the U.S. government is concerned people will take assets to another country and not pay any applicable U.S. taxes. Also, in many situations, it is better to have a citizen act as trustee, but a lawyer cannot determine if that applies... View More

A person setting up an estate plan can name the same person to be their Agent (representative) under an Advanced Health Care Directive as well as the Trustee under a Trust (or an Executor under a Will.) It is completely up to the person setting up the estate plan to decide if the person wants the... View More

Your mother can do whatever she wants and, according to the law, she needs to be the one to prepare her Trust or Will however she wants. If a beneficiary is not interested in taking care of a sibling, it would be better to put that sibling's inheritance in a trust that someone else (a friend... View More

Your father needs a Trust, not a Will. Here’s why. Each state has a dollar limit for purposes of determining whether a deceased person’s loved ones either: (1) are free to distribute the assets as soon as all final bills are paid off; or (2) must go through a years-long court process called... View More

Whether language is contained in the body of a document or in an attachment that is incorporated into the body makes no difference from a legal standpoint. It’s all part of the same document. Yes, your lawyer should have honored your request to draft the document the way you wanted it. But... View More