» Estate Planning

Unfounded Presumptions

I had a middle-aged physician in my office last week. She had just settled a lawsuit that was perfectly defendable, but the insurance company didn’t want to go to trial because it would have been more expensive than just settling the claim. So, she… Read More
Categories: Estate Planning

More Presumptions

I have a friend who is having medical problems, at age 62. At one time very wealthy, he now has no income, but owns a very large and valuable piece of ground in Southern California. Unfortunately, it isn’t of a type that can be turned into cash. Th… Read More
Categories: Estate Planning

A Huge Estate Planning Error

The other day a client of rather long standing died. He had not only used our services to set up and update his estate plan, from time to time, but had hired me to become the Trustee of his trust upon his death. During our estate plan meetings, he al… Read More
Categories: Estate Planning

The Premarital Agreement

Premarital agreements are one of the worst kinds of agreements that attorneys face. That is for two reasons. First, there is a very heavy emotional content that most future wives and some future husbands, feel is insulting and unfair. Second, for tha… Read More
Categories: Estate Planning

Plan Ahead and Be Careful

There are a lot of lessons that we try to teach our children. “Yes, Sir,” “No, Sir,” “Thank you,” “You’re welcome,” “Don’t run with scissors, all come to mind.” A really big lesson in life is to plan ahead. Bears and dogs don… Read More
Categories: Estate Planning

All Kinds of Trust

I deal with trusts, the entity, on a daily basis. But, let’s back up a little and take a look at what a trust is and then discuss some of the more creative uses of the trust device. The “trust” relationship was created by the courts of medieval… Read More
Categories: Estate Planning

How to Get Trapped with Someone Else’s Problems

I had a client recently buy a corporation containing an operating business, against my advice. Once I got to look at the corporate records, I noted a number of problems that could cost my client a lot of money. Let’s start with the understanding th… Read More
Categories: Estate Planning