Access to electronic records and communications
Electronic records and electronic communications are electronically kept by banks, brokerages, and other institutions to store important customer account information and communications.
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California uniform Directed Trust Act
Under present California trust law, trustees are the only fiduciaries (i.e., legally appointed representatives) with the duty, authority and power to administer a trust’s assets, liabilities and financial and legal...
Appropriate distributions from a special needs trust
The trustee of a Special Needs Trust (“SNT”) may make discretionary distributions for the “Special Needs” of a disabled person. That the trustee has discretion to make distributions and that...
Trusts and attorney fees: Who pays?
Trustees hire attorneys to assist with normal trust administration and with litigation. When are the attorney fees properly paid from trust assets?
California’s more generous homestead exemption
In 2021, California significantly increased the protection under the “homestead exemption” and the “homestead declaration”. Until 2021, the amount of the homestead exemption (protection) varied from $75,000 to $175,000 depending...
Estate administration and court proceedings
In California, administering a deceased person’s estate often requires a petition to the superior court in the proper county (venue). Let us discuss how to determine the proper county and...
Urgent Estate Planning Considerations During Covid 19.
Certain urgent estate planning issues have arisen during the present Covid 19 health crisis.
Fordham: Estate planning during the coronavirus pandemic
Estate planning is best done at times of ease when there is no compelling reason to do so. Now during the COVID-19 pandemic, here in California (and elsewhere), some people...
Creditor claims and decedent’s estate
Editor's Note: The author has made a substantive correction to this article which originally ran in the Nov. 2 edition of the Record-Bee. We are republishing the corrected version this...
Fordham: Tenancies in common and estate planning
A tenant in common owns an undivided, fractional interest in a property (real or personal) with one or more additional tenants in common, who may be related or unrelated persons....
