Do you know if your family would have to pay an estate tax on your assets if you died today? If you’re like most people, you’re probably worth more dead than alive. It’s not uncommon for average, middle class families to be…more
In the next two months, those words will ring out in high school graduation ceremonies all across the country. And if you have a high school senior in your home, then chances are that things are about to change dramatically,…more
April 16th was National Healthcare Decisions Day. The point of this day of awareness is to encourage adults to share their private wishes about medical care and end-of-life decisions. Way too many adults harbor the mistaken…more
If you are currently married with significant assets, you and your spouse have a very limited time to save a lot of money, because after that it’s very likely that Congress will change the rules now in existence and make dying…more
As a Sacramento Divorce Lawyer, someone usually asks me every day about how debts are divided in a divorce. Debts are divided in a divorce just like assets are, but division isn’t the end of the story. A huge issue is which…more
Some people are just naturally ingenious. The attorneys who came up with the idea for creating reciprocal trusts belong in that category. First things first: What is a reciprocal trust?…more
Let’s start at the beginning. An A/B trust is a marital trust system comprised of two trusts, an A trust and a B trust. The A trust is typically referred to as the marital trust, though sometimes it is a QTIP trust (just keep…more
There are some pretty basic reasons to carry life insurance. One of the top reasons we hear is that clients simply want to make sure that their loved ones will be cared for if the client dies other than “as planned.”…more
Remember the days when IP—Intellectual Property—was the exclusive domain of patent attorneys, computer science majors, successful authors, and professional photographers and artists? Well, times have changed, because whether you…more
Kids generally don’t understand money innately, and until they learn that money must be earned and is in finite supply at any given time, kids are apt to develop a one-way relationship with money and become very good spenders…more
Life insurance is one of those things that, like estate planning, is capable of giving you an incredible sense of peace. It’s one of those things that will help you sleep at night, because you’ll know that your family is going…more
If you’re like most people, you’re worried about keeping your money. The new mantra on Wall Street is that a “return of your money is the new return on your money.” To put it mildly, the markets are presenting a challenge for…more
Welcome to politics in 2012! Did you sign up for what we’re getting in America? In many ways, nobody is happy with the landscape. Most of us—Independents, Democrats, and Republicans alike—are unhappy (or even disgusted) with…more
Have you started thinking about the cost of a college education? Any good financial and estate plan should include provisions for financing the cost of education for your children. There are many options available to help you…more
The type of trust we most commonly discuss is, without a doubt, the revocable living trust. While revocable living trusts are certainly effective in making sure that your estate avoids a lengthy and expensive probate process,…more
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