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….
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….
Where Should You Keep Your Estate Planning Documents?
Many people sign a living trust, will, power of attorney, and health care directive, then place the documents somewhere no one knows about. Years later, when incapacity or death occurs, the family may not know where the originals are, whether signed copies exist, or who has authority to act…
Can a Non-Family Member Inherit Your Property in California?
For many California living trusts, this happens after the trust creator dies, the successor trustee gathers the assets, pays expenses, resolves taxes, and distributes the remaining property to the beneficiaries. Once the trust no longer owns property and no further duties remain, the trust has effectively served its purpose….
Can a California Trustee Live in Another State?
Children who inherit real estate from their parents in California usually do not pay income tax, inheritance tax, or capital gains tax merely because they received the property….
Do Children Pay Taxes on Property They Inherit From Parents?
Children who inherit real estate from their parents in California usually do not pay income tax, inheritance tax, or capital gains tax merely because they received the property….