Some questions and answers you should discuss about your wishes and your estate planning when you’re together for Thanksgiving. Hey, it’s better than politics!

Some of the laws relating to retirement accounts have changed. It’s important to know these five updates.

What should happen with your body when you die? Although previously this included only burial or cremation, composting is now an option in California.

The Secure 2.0 Act has made a few significant changes that could impact your retirement plan beneficiaries.

Creating an estate plan can take weeks or months — but a lot of that is based on how long it takes you, the client, to make decisions.

Trust administration is when you follow the terms of the trust, usually at the time someone dies or becomes incapacitated

An Executor is when there’s a will; an Administrator is when there’s no will; a Successor Trustee is when there’s a trust. Executors and Administrators are subject to Probate Court; the Successor trustee is not.

California does not have an estate & gift tax, but the federal government does. What’s the difference? How do they work together?

The key is: tell someone where your estate plan is located.

Paying for schools can be intimidating, and financial advisor Kaytlin Hall provides this concise summary to help guide you through these choices.

An 18 year old is an adult. Full stop.

The cost of probate involves financial expenses, time, and publicity. The financial cost is a percentage of gross assets, as set by California statute.

Telling your attorney what your wishes are is not equivalent to signing your estate planning documents. If you know what you want to happen, tell your attorney AND schedule the signing appointment.

A will and a trust are part of a comprehensive estate plan in California; the will helps with three aspects of your plan.

You should review your estate plan every 3-5 years, but how often you need to update it will depend on changes in circumstances and people.

Property tax is a county-assessed tax that changes when there is a change in ownership. In general, if you move your own house into your own living trust, there is not a reassessment of property tax. However, there are always exceptions!

A power of attorney is a vital tool to help ensure someone can make decisions for you if you’re unable to to do; you can also use a power of attorney in other contexts.

ChatGPT provides an answer to the eternal question: why do I need an estate plan in California?

Emailing your “will” is unlikely to be valid in California; there are other ways to make your wishes known.

There is no time by which you must have created an estate plan, but there are several factors that usually lead someone to create one.