Practice areas include Trust Administration, Probate, Estate Planning, Special Needs Trusts, Elder Law, Medi-Cal Eligibility and Asset Protection, Conservatorships, and Guardianships.

Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

In years past, most people considered simple Wills as proper estate planning.  However, with the increase in wealth, in part due to real estate values and retirement benefits, as well as increasingly complicated laws, Wills are usually not enough anymore.  Wills are intended to tell the probate court how to distribute assets at death.  In today’s world, most people wish to avoid the probate court.  The process is much more costly and time consuming than it was years ago.  Further, Wills are only effective upon death, and give no protection or assistance if the person is alive, ill or incapacitated.

Rather than drafting Wills, many people now consider the benefits of Revocable Living Trusts, Durable Power of Attorneys, Advance Health Care Directives, and other related documents.  These documents, often referred to collectively as an “estate plan”, are intended to effectively avoid probate and aid in the management of assets as well as direct health care in the event of incapacity.  Proper estate planning often proves invaluable.  Benefits include possible minimization of taxes, ease in distributing assets upon death without probate, and avoidance of the need for conservatorships in the event of incapacity.

Our office takes pride in crafting estate plans designed specifically for each client, and analyzing assets and circumstances for proper tax planning, and smooth administration upon death, illness, or incapacity.  Our knowledge of Elder Law make us uniquely qualified to provide estate plans which  plan for numerous possibilities, including catastrophic illness, public benefits and long term care, incapacity, assistance from professionals or trusted persons if and when needed, as well as death.

Probate is the court process of transferring assets of a deceased person to the individuals, charities, or institutions entitled to receive those assets.  The process typically takes approximately nine months to complete.  There are basically three main functions of the probate process:

• Collection of the decedent’s assets

• Payment of debts and taxes

• Distribution of the estate assets.

If a person passes away, it must be determined whether a probate is required.  Under certain circumstances, probate is the only way to collect and transfer the assets to the intended heirs.  We assist individuals with evaluating whether or not a probate proceeding is necessary, or if other means can be used to collect and distribute the decedent’s assets.  If probate is required, our office represents the “executor” (also called a “personal representative”) through the court process and legal requirements.

Revocable Living Trusts are becoming very popular as an effective way to avoid probate, possibly minimize taxes for married couples, and manage finances without court intervention in the event of incapacity or illness.  However, many people are not familiar with the “administration” tasks of the trust once someone passes away or becomes incapacitated.

If a person establishes a trust and then becomes incapacitated, the named successor trustee has certain duties and responsibilities in managing the trust assets properly for the incapacitated person.  Numerous legal responsibilities face the successor trustee, who is often an adult son or daughter named in the trust document.  The new trustee usually requires legal assistance in properly handling their new duties as trustee.  Failure to abide by the multitude of legal requirements sometimes result in legal liability for the successor trustee.  Therefore, legal assistances is often invaluable in helping these well-meaning successor trustees administer the trust for the benefit of the incapacitated person who established the trust.

If the person has passed away, trust administration involves the process of properly identifying and collecting the trust assets, legal notification to the beneficiaries (even if they are all family members), identification and payment of legitimate debts, providing trustee accountings of the trust financial activities, fiduciary tax returns, and valuation of assets for possible estate tax returns and ultimately proper distribution to the beneficiaries.  If a spouse has passed away, the surviving spouse must revisit the terms of the trust to determine what, if any, action must be taken due to the death.  It is very common that the trust must be divided into two (or more) sub-trusts for tax purposes or other reasons.  The terms of the trust will state what actions must be taken.

Although trust administration is usually much more preferable to the probate process or conservatorships, trustees and surviving spouses often need guidance and assistance in properly fulfilling their legal obligations and duties. 

Elder Law is an area of law that caters to the needs of seniors and the elderly.  It is an area defined by the clients we serve rather than a specific area of law.  Each client is unique, as is each situation facing our clients.  Elder Law involves such areas as long-term care, Medi-Cal eligibility, Medicare and insurance issues, catastrophic illness and incapacity issues and planning, financial and health care decision-making, and other important issues. 

Some clients and their families are in crisis due to unexpected medical emergencies leaving loved ones incapacitated.  Sometimes spouses suddenly find their husband or wife requires expensive long-term care in a skilled nursing facility.  Others are slowly succumbing to Alzheimer’s disease or other degenerative or progressive illness, and need to plan for incapacity.  Still others are planning in advance, and need guidance and information.  Elder Law attorneys are uniquely versed and equipped to provide direction in the complex legal areas of public benefits, asset protection, Social Security, incapacity issues, and other areas affecting seniors and the elderly.

Medi-Cal Eligibility and Asset Protection

Older adults are living longer today than in the past. Living longer, however, does not always mean living healthier.  Many older adults and their families are concerned about long-term care costs in skilled nursing facilities, which can be staggering and easily exhaust life savings in a very short time period.  According to the California Department of Health Services, the average monthly cost of a nursing home in California exceeds $4,800.00 per month.  Most families are shocked to learn that Medi-care does not pay for long term nursing home costs.  Medi-care only pays up to 100 days (days 21-100 are with a co-pay) of skilled care.  Once Medi-care is no longer available, nursing home care costs are paid by either long term care insurance (which most people do not have), personal assets, or Medi-Cal.

Medi-Cal is California's version of the Federal Medicaid program. Medi-Cal is designed to pay a very significant portion of the cost of nursing home care for an eligible person. To be eligible, a person needing nursing home care must have limited available resources. The rules are complex, and planning is often essential in protecting assets, including the family home.  Spouses of ill patients have numerous available options, and should take full benefit of the asset protection laws, while allowing the ill spouse to qualify for Medi-Cal.  

Conservatorships

A “conservatorship” is a type of legal proceeding where the court grants legal authority to a person (called a “conservator”) to act for an impaired or incapacitated person (called a “conservatee”).  Sometimes individuals require another trusted person to act for them due to dementia, stroke, illness, accident, or other limitation. 

A conservator of the “person” is legally responsible for making decisions and arranging for the conservatee’s care, physical protection, medical care, and other personal decisions.

A conservator of the “estate” locates and takes control of the conservatee’s assets,  manages the conservatee’s finances, collects the conservatee’s income, pays their bills, invests their money, and protects their assets from fraud and waste.  The conservator must be “bonded”, and must also make periodic reports called “ accountings” to the court.

Our office represents and assists individuals who are seeking to become conservators of incapacitated or disabled loved ones, guides them through the legal process, and assists with the necessary accountings and other legal requirements.