Estate Planning & Administration

Protect your family - Control your assets - Do it your way!

Welcome to my world of wills, trusts, and estate administration.  You may have landed on this page because you are thinking about updating your estate plan.  Perhaps you are facing a particular challenge such as a recent or imminent death.  In any case, the sooner you begin, the better your options because government authorities may lien or tax recently transferred assets.  Furthermore, federal law allows creditors to claim that recent transfers were fraudulent.  On the other hand, timely legal steps may protect privacy, save taxes, block creditors, and cut-off disgruntled heirs.

An estate planning attorney helps you use the law to protect and control your wealth in the face of life’s challenges. For instance, you can plan to avoid probate through a combination of beneficiary designations, joint titles, and trusts.  For an unplanned estate, you can sometimes avoid probate by fully utilizing exceptions and perhaps petitioning the court.  To protect your assets, you can employ a variety of trusts to minimize taxes, defeat creditors, and privately manage your affairs upon disability or death.  Asset protection is highly individualized.  For example, protecting a disabled child is very different from protecting a family business or animal companions.

The relevant law is complex but this complexity creates both traps and opportunities. My practice is devoted to understanding how to use that law to further your particular interests. Therefore, the first step in estate planning or administration is to privately assess your situation under protection of an attorney-client relationship.  You will tell me about your priorities, family, property, and any threats. I will explain your particular legal options.  From those options, we will develop and implement your action plan – typically in coordination with your other advisors.

By surfing the web, you have taken the first step towards protecting your family and property.  I invite you to explore my site to learn more about estate planning and administration.  When you are ready to take the next step, call me at (925) 274-0432 to talk about your particular needs.