When a spouse dies, the estate plan you built together keeps going, but it was designed for two people. Now it needs to work for one. The first weeks after a loss bring a long list of urgent tasks. Updating your estate plan is not typically one of them, at least not right away. This post picks up after that…
When people think about an estate plan, they usually think about the trust itself: who serves as trustee, who inherits and when, how the house is titled. Those are the right questions. But one asset often sits outside that conversation: life insurance, and specifically, who is named as its beneficiary. Many people bought a policy years ago, filled out a…
Probate in Contra Costa County: What Walnut Creek Families Need to Know in 2026 When a Walnut Creek family walks into my office after losing a loved one, probate is usually the word they’re hoping not to hear. And I understand why. Probate has a reputation — and much of it is deserved. It can be slow, expensive, and public…
Over the years I have seen clients struggle to get access to a parent’s safe deposit box after death. More than once, this seemingly simple task required us to open a probate proceeding in court, even though the deceased parent had set up a revocable trust to avoid probate. I’ve said this before: telling a client we have to do…
When most people think about Hulk Hogan and Ozzy Osbourne, they probably envision iconic moments from the wrestling ring or heavy metal stage, not wills, trusts, or estate planning. But these two late celebrities, who both passed away in July 2025, each had unique family dynamics and high-profile personal lives. Their deaths offer surprising lessons in estate planning from which…
