Estate Planning
Estate Planning for Protecting Family Business Legacy
Family businesses often represent more than financial success; they embody trust, shared values and a legacy passed through generations. In California, estate planning that includes a family business requires careful attention to fiduciary duties and formal agreements...
Estate Planning: Hidden treasures or E-waste? Evaluating vintage electronics in estates and trusts
When settling an estate, personal representatives often encounter piles of outdated electronics – old TVs, stereo equipment, odd-looking computers, even boxes of random parts. Most of it looks like junk. But appearances can be deceiving. In one cautionary tale, a...
Estate Planning: What happens to child support when the paying parent dies?
In California, a parent’s legal obligation to pay child support does not automatically end upon their death. Instead, the obligation continues and can be enforced against the deceased parent’s estate or living trust, depending on the circumstances. Under California...
Estate Planning: Why estate planning needs to include IVF and genetic material
Estate planning has long focused on financial matters – who inherits what, how much goes to whom and under what restrictions. But beginning in the 1960s, estate planning expanded to include personal choices, such as medical treatment preferences and funeral wishes....
Estate Planning: California counties take lead in psychiatric advance directives
While California lawmakers have struggled to pass comprehensive legislation around psychiatric advance directives (PADs), six counties are moving forward with their own solutions. These counties – Contra Costa, Fresno, Mariposa, Monterey, Orange and Shasta along with...
Estate Planning: Five essential steps to protect your loved ones
If you’ve been putting off estate planning, you’re not alone. Many people delay because it feels overwhelming, time-consuming or emotionally difficult. But the cost of not planning – both financially and emotionally – can be significant for the people you care about...




