Like many of you, our family will be celebrating Thanksgiving by Zoom this year. My older brother and younger sister both live in the D.C. area, and my parents have recently all but moved there to help out the raising the next generation of Cashmans. While we typically all meet at my...
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There are winners and loser in every piece of legislation. On this past election day, a slim majority of California voters passed Proposition 19. The winners: firefighters who will receive funds from the projected new tax revenue; and wildfire victims, severely disabled, and homeowners over 55 who wish to move within California....
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Sometimes the administration of an estate can be done without the assistance of legal counsel. What? Did a lawyer just tell me not to hire him? Easy now, we like happy clients. If the assets in the estate are not complex and you have the time and energy to focus on your...
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The Federal Estate Tax Exclusion Threshold is at a Historic High
If you are a frequenter of our Frequently Asked Questions page, you are aware that one of the planning considerations in every estate plan is maximizing payments to the beneficiaries by minimizing the estate taxes. And, most...
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One of the most common estate planning questions is whether the creation, or more specifically, the funding, of a Trust creates an additional tax filing requirement. In other words, once I fund the Trust with assets, and those assets create income during the tax year, do I need to file an income...
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In a previous blog, we discussed a situation where a Will and a Trust have inconsistent terms regarding who would receive property, and which of these documents would control, and why. In another blog article, we addressed what would happen if a Beneficiary passed away before the person who wrote...
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It’s not unusual for a person to pass and leave behind some unpaid debt or on-going financial obligations. If a loved one passes and his/her estate plan does not include a Trust, their financial affairs will be sorted out through the Probate Court process. The Probate Court will oversee the administration of...
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Trustees have a duty to defend the Trust in actions and lawsuits filed against it (Cal. Prob. Code § 16011; Hawaii Revised Statutes 554A-3). State Trust law also recognizes no contest clauses in Trusts that disinherit beneficiaries who unsuccessfully challenge the Trust. (Hawaii Revised Statutes 560:3-905; Cal. Prob....
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The legal formalities required to create and amend a Will versus a Trust are not the same. In most states, including California and Hawai’i, a Will must be signed by the Testator and witnessed by two people. Exceptions apply. For example, both states allow for a Will to be handwritten...
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Many estate plans contain both a Will and at least one Trust. When a Trust is involved, typically the Will is a pour-over Will. The Will may contain many things, like the designation of guardians, or it may simply “pour-over” any estate property, not already titled in the name of the Trust,...
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