4 Ways to Keep Your Home Out of Probate
A payable on death account, often called a POD account, allows you to name a beneficiary who receives the account after you pass away. During your lifetime, the beneficiary usually has no ownership or control over the account….
How Payable on Death Accounts Can Help With Estate Planning
A payable on death account, often called a POD account, allows you to name a beneficiary who receives the account after you pass away. During your lifetime, the beneficiary usually has no ownership or control over the account….
What Is the Difference Between a Power of Attorney and a Trustee?
A power of attorney usually gives someone authority to act for you while you are alive. A trustee manages assets inside a trust, either while you are living or after you pass away, depending on how the trust is written….
What Happens to Children From a Prior Marriage in a Blended Family Trust?
A parent may want to help a child who struggles with substance abuse, alcohol abuse, gambling addiction, poor financial judgment, or vulnerability to scams. But giving that person a lump sum inheritance outright can sometimes make the situation worse…
How to Leave an Inheritance to a Child With Addiction
A parent may want to help a child who struggles with substance abuse, alcohol abuse, gambling addiction, poor financial judgment, or vulnerability to scams. But giving that person a lump sum inheritance outright can sometimes make the situation worse…
Should You Put Your Child on the Title to Your Home?
Many California homeowners consider this because they want the home to pass smoothly to their children after death. The goal makes sense. Probate in California can be lengthy, expensive, public, and stressful for families…
Who Should Serve as Your Financial Power of Attorney?
If you are injured, hospitalized, seriously ill, or unable to manage your own financial life, someone may need legal authority to act for you. That person may need to pay your mortgage, handle bills, manage bank….
Should California Residents Use a Will or a Trust?
For many California residents, the better main estate planning document depends on what they own, who they want to protect, whether they have minor children, whether they own real estate, and whether they want their family to avoid probate….
Do You Need $100 Million for a Trust?
That kind of advice may sound simple, but it can be dangerously misleading for California families. A trust is not just a tax tool for ultra-wealthy households. In California, a living trust is often used to avoid probate, protect privacy, manage real estate, plan for incapacity, and control how beneficiaries receive their inheritance….
What Happens to the Mortgage When a Co-Owner Dies?
If a California home has a mortgage, that loan usually remains secured by the property. Even if the person listed on the mortgage has died, the lender may still have the right to enforce the loan against the home if payments are not made….