Law Offices of Randall B. Brown & Associates
Estate Planning, Divorce-Property Division, Custody, Support, Real Estate, Small Business Law     Tel: 619-546-8320
3 Locations: La Jolla, Rancho Bernardo and Mission Valley

 

           
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Information You Can Use
Things you should know:

Most initial consultations are free of charge.  Call to find out if the initial consultation for your case is no charge.

3 Locations to make seeing a San Diego lawyer convenient: La Jolla, Rancho Bernardo and Mission Valley.

An Estate plan is not a will or a trust, it is a combination of instruments together with a listing of all property and debt that enables your successor to administer your wishes thoroughly and effectively.

If you are married, not all property is community property.  Any property acquired before or after marriage or by gift, bequest or devise is considered separate property under California law.

Small businesses can eliminate self employment tax by effectively organizing their business as a recognized California business entity.

 
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San Diego Law Firm
Our Law firm offers the finest litigation strategies for San Diego litigants involved in almost any legal dispute.
 
Quote
"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

-Winston Churchill

   

We offer a host of solutions for small businesses and families when confronted with troublesome legal issues.  Here are some frequently asked questions and our answers regarding the practice areas where we focus our expertise.

Estate Planning: Wills, Trusts

What is a Living Trust?

Typically, a person who is planning an estate thinks of drawing up a set of instructions that will be used after they have passed away by someone who is trusted with following through with the deceased person's plan.  While all estates are unique in some way, in a typical estate plan there is a will, a trust, a durable power of attorney, and  a healthcare directive.  A trust and will typically address property issues where a durable power of attorney and a healthcare directive address issues related to medical treatment and decision making.  When the two types of instruments function together correctly, families are spared the difficulty that comes with uncertainty in a time of crisis and emotional upheaval.

What, then, is the difference between a will and a trust?  When a will is drawn up, an executor, with some supervision from the court, actually fulfills the intent memorialized in their will.  With a will, the executor kicks in to action when the person who wrote the will dies and subsequently causes title to property to be transformed as well as the distribution of specific personal property. 

In a trust, the person making the trust actually transfers all of the assets to the trust while they are still alive.  Typically, the person transferring the property also makes themselves the trustee for the trust until they actually pass away and the duty of being the trustee transfers to an alternate trustee.  Because title is still vested in the person making the trust in the first place, ownership of the property never really changes until death.  In spite of no real change in title, many benefits are realized:

• Transferring title and distributing property becomes easy for the next trustee because title has already changed during the life of the deceased person.
• Probate is not necessary because there are no assets to administer since title has already changed.
• The estate is spared excessive legal fees because there is no probate administration and no court supervised process.
• The heirs of the deceased person have the peace of mind that comes with not having to get involved with cumbersome legal maneuvering after the death of a loved one.
• Tax planning can be done prior to death insuring maximum use of available tax breaks for the estate.

What then about healthcare directives and durable powers of attorney?  Durable powers of attorney are used when a person is incapacitated and unable to make critical end of life decisions.  These are particularly useful when an estate has not been planned in advance because the holder of the durable power of attorney can create trusts and do some tax planning even though the person being planned for may be disabled.  Healthcare directives, then, are just that; an instrument that allows a person to specify exactly what specific healthcare steps should or should not be taken in situations where the planner is incapacitated.  These can be highly detailed and require doctors to follow the preordained directions of the incapacitated party.

Feel free to Contact Us and see if we can help 

 

 

 
Copyright 2006.   Law Offices of Randall B. Brown.   All rights reserved.