Most people count on the money in a bank account to pay their bills. When you pass away, your loved ones may need to access that money so they can take care of some urgent expenses. It’s imperative that you take the time to ensure they’ll be able to do this. One of...
Not long ago, our blog featured a post explaining how to continue controlling your medical care upon incapacitation by creating advanced medical directives. Now is an ideal time to expand on the topic by discussing how to select the right agent to act on your behalf...
The modern family unit looks different than when your grandparents got married. Families in previous eras typically consisted of two opposite-sex parents and one or several children. Today, families are as varied as the individuals that populate the earth. Napa,...
As people age, they often begin worrying about the kind of medical care they will receive if they become too ill or injured to voice their preferences. While you can convey your desires to your family, a legal document outlining your preferred options helps ensure...
When you die, any property in your name becomes part of your estate. What happens to that property depends on how well you plan before you die. If you pass without an estate plan, California state law determines who inherits your property. If you create a will, you...
One of the key goals of many people as they develop their estate plan is protecting the assets they leave their loved ones from going to taxes, creditors, ex-spouses and wasteful spending. There are ways to set up trusts that will protect your heirs and your money....
After years of doing your best to raise a loving child, sometimes they do something that upsets you so much, you want to write them out of your will. While you can disinherit a child in California, you need to be sure you want to. It is not a decision to take lightly,...
Handling the estate of a loved one is time-consuming. You will likely have to commit many weeks of effort over the course of a year or even more. Some of the steps that you take early in the process are among the most important to protect yourself as the...
Having a new baby is a delightful experience for the new parents. While they might start to think about how to afford the baby's needs and plan for the future long before their infant is here, they may forget about creating an estate plan that takes their needs into...
Ancient civilizations believed that when you died, you needed to take things with you for the journey ahead. Nowadays, you probably prefer to leave everything you have for the people that survive you. Yet, leaving things without specifying what you want to happen to...