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Are estate planning laws the same in every state? Definitely not! That's why if you've recently moved from one state to another, let’s say North Dakota to California, you might have some reading about state specific estate planning laws ahead of you. The same goes if you own a business with outlets in many [...]

Are you an unmarried couple in California seeking to coexist without a formal marriage? Or maybe you moved into California recently from a state that recognizes common law marriage, and you’re wondering if you will still enjoy the same rights and responsibilities of common law marriage in California. Common law marriage in California ended [...]

There are several reasons a person could feel a need for disinheriting a family member. There may be family arguments leading to estrangement, financial reasons, or even to protect one child over another. When someone decides to disinherit a family member such as his or her spouse or children, they need to do more than simply leave them [...]

According to California law, a quitclaim deed is a document that enables you to relinquish and/or transfer real property interest, whether recorded or not, in land and or gas, mineral, or oil rights. Most people who sign quitclaim deeds do so when they are transferring the land to a family member. This is because a quitclaim deed does not "guarantee" the grantor has, in fact, valid ownership of the real estate property. Because the parties involved in gift transfer of ownership of real estate property and in quitclaim deeds are usually close family members, it is not necessary to hire a lawyer. In fact, it is a waste of money to hire a lawyer for something as simple as a quitclaim deed. The best choice is to hire a California registered legal document assistant to prepare your quitclaim deed.

Owning property together is just one of the ties that can connect family members. Often through inheritance family members suddenly have to deal with the unexpected consequences of jointly owned property. It is important to understand how real property title can affect who receives the property when an owner dies.

In order for a disabled person to receive disability benefits, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid, he/she must demonstrate that he/she needs the income to live independently.  Any assets, even gifts from family members, may be counted against him/her, and could reduce his/her benefits. There are two ways that family members can contribute to a disabled person without those contributions affecting their benefits- special needs trusts and California ABLE accounts.

Certain legal terms cause people to clutch their wallets in fear. With regard to income taxes, people fear the word “audit". In family law, they fear the word “alimony”. The scariest word in estate planning is “probate,” which refers to the process by which the court effectively dictates what happens to a deceased person’s property. Knowing the term "transfer on death deed" can make probate far less scary. Unfortunately, since the implementation of this new estate planning tool, people are discovering title insurance problems with transfer on death deeds.