You’ve worked hard throughout your life to ensure that you have enough set aside to protect yourself and those you leave behind when you are gone. Yet without a quality estate plan in place, much of what you earned could be eaten up in taxes, and your beneficiaries will be left to fight through the probate court process.
James Taheran is an estate planning attorney who assists clients with estate plans of all types, from simple wills to complex trusts. If you want to ensure that your estate and your beneficiaries are properly protected, you can trust the Taheran Law Firm, PC, to help.
Wills & Trust
We are often asked what is better. Will or Trust? Having a will is obviously better than doing nothing and having a trust is better than having a will. For most people, it is best to have a trust and have a pour over will in case you forget to transfer assets into your trust. If you do nothing, there is a good chance that your estate hast to get probated leaving the probate judge to decide for you. If you have a will, your estate is still need to be probated but your intentions are known if it is drafted properly. On the other hand, a properly drafted and funded trust will avoid the costly probate.
Unfortunately, people believe that they wouldn’t need a will or a trust till get they get old. This is far from the truth. In fact younger generation may need it more as they usually leave minor children and a young spouse behind.
Estate Planning
With exemption at nearly 5.5 million dollars per individual and nearly 11 million dollars for married couples, estate tax is not going to be an issue for most Americans. However, estate planning is way more than that. An estate plan cannot be a cookie cutter, one plan fit all scenarios. It takes detail discussions about intent, understand their family dynamics, updating client’s knowledge, and guiding them to an informed decision. The goal is to avoid probate, avoid or minimize tax obligations and achieve intended goals. Please call us to schedule a free consultation.
Trust and Probate Administration
Trustees and executors have fiduciary responsibilities in administering the estate. The old saying “all is good till it’s not” happens more often than you think. If you are a trustee in need of assistance in LA or Orange County, please call us for a free consultation.