Imagine this scenario: your cousin, David, dies without an estate plan here in California. He had no children or further descendants. He has no living siblings, parents, grandparents, or aunts or uncles, but he does have you, his first cousin on his dad’s side. His only first cousin that you are aware of. You petition the court to open a…
Assembly Bill 1663 went into effect on January 1, 2023 amending the California Welfare and Institution Code to add new sections enacting the Supported Decision-making law. The law formalizes supported decision-making in order to reduce the number of people who might otherwise have their rights removed by a conservatorship. What is supported decision-making and how does it work? Supported decision-making…
When completing any estate planning, including a trust, will, power of attorney, or health care directive, the person signing the documents must have what is called “capacity” in order to sign the documents. There are two kinds of capacity in estate planning: testamentary capacity and contractual capacity. Testamentary capacity is a lower form of capacity and is required by a…
