When a family member passes away, family dynamics are often drastically changed. Even more so when other family members are living in the decedent’s family home, which can occur in a few different ways; thus, pre-planning with a right of occupancy spelled out in your trust can avoid any ambiguities and clarify who owns the property after death and who…
Retirement can be an intimidating subject to approach. You may be worrying that you’ve started too late, aren’t sure how much to put aside each month, or that there’s something you’re missing out on. This can be especially hard for women, as there is no template to follow for today’s retiring career women. If you think about it historically, in…
There has been an increase in scams involving people impersonating the government. Scammers say they are from the IRS, Medicare, Social Security Administration, and even the FBI. Most of these scams target seniors and pray on them using fear tactics or promises of big money. Here are a few examples and facts about the government to keep in mind to…
A client recently asked about leaving property to his only child and wanted to know if he could add his child on title to his home rather than using a trust. The client wanted to use joint tenancy to avoid probate and smooth transition between parent and child. While my client was correct about avoiding probate and the smoother transition,…
A power of attorney is an essential part of a comprehensive estate plan. It is common to create your entire estate plan and only think about updating your will and trust as your thoughts on distributing your property may change. However, it is imperative to make sure that you keep other documents up to date as well. Specifically, it is…
Many people assume that when they turn 65, they are automatically covered by Medicare and that everything will be paid for. Unfortunately, that is not exactly true. When it comes to signing up for Medicare, there are many decisions to be made and things to consider. Just because you are healthy right now doesn’t mean you won’t have health issues…
When it comes to estate planning, we find that many of our clients want to divide their entire estate equally among their children. Unfortunately, this presents a challenge after death for a variety of reasons – especially when real estate is involved. And now that Prop 19 has passed in California, there are even more complications and things to consider.…