Elder Law Attorney to Protect What You Have Worked For All Your Life and for Medicaid / Medi-Cal Elder Law Medicaid – Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) has complex regulations and rules that most people find practically impossible to navigate and understand. Unless the attorney is an Elder Law practitioner, even attorneys are generally not equipped…
Before Buying, Discover Do Members of the HOA Get Along? No one wants to be fighting with their neighbors, but disagreements can get particularly nasty in a neighborhood governed by an HOA. After all, it’s not just a she-said, he-said situation, but there are actual rules and regulations homeowners must follow, with there being financial…
A Will Or A Trust? A Will Or A Trust – If you’ve created a trust, you’ve taken control of your estate plan and your assets. Trust assets are not subject to the probate process and one of the most important benefits of trusts is that they are private. Although notices to creditors may be…
Will My Estate Go Through Probate? If you die with a valid will, your assets will still go through the probate process. However, after creditors have been satisfied, the remaining assets go to whom you’ve identified in your will. If you want to leave money to your children and name a guardian for the minor…
No Will or Trust Will or Trust – If you should die intestate, your estate will go through probate and all the world will know what you owned, what you owed, and who got what. Your mortgage company, car loan company, and credit card companies will all seek payment on balances you owed at the…
Farmers and Ranchers Farmers and ranchers have complex estate planning needs. They may have children who want to continue the farming or ranching business and children who do not. They will be forced to decide who inherits the land, the equipment, the livestock, and other assets, all the while trying to keep things fair and…
Joint Ownership Many people, including farmers, ranchers, and others, believe that the easiest way to plan their estates and avoid probate is to own property in joint names with family members. However, farmland or ranch property that is jointly owned and enrolled in programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture may result in subsidies…
Asset protection has become a common goal of estate planning. Asset protection trusts come in many different forms and can be used to protect property for your use and benefit as well as for the use and benefit of your family. What is An Asset Protection Trust? An asset protection trust is a special type…
Liquidity Needs Liquidity Needs – Incapacity and death are expensive and often require cash to pay expenses. But, farmland, farming equipment, personal residences, automobiles, and other personal effects are illiquid. Without properly planning for immediate and long-term cash needs, families will be forced to quickly sell land and equipment for pennies on the dollar. Farmers,…
Asset Protection Trust Your Way Asset protection trust designed for inheritance protection can be as rigid or as flexible as you choose. For example, a beneficiary can be added as a co-trustee at a certain age or after the beneficiary reaches a specific goal such as graduating from college. Another option is to name a…