Category: General Blogs
Over the years, we have heard of numerous high profile people, such as Leona Helmsley, who have established multi-million dollar trusts for their pets’ care. Although this is probably overkill for most of us, California, along with 38 other states, has enacted legislation which recognizes pet trusts. California law requires the courts to do their best to figure out the intentions of the person who set up the trust and give them the benefit of the doubt if it’s not clear what the person intended. Moreover, courts are authorized to consider all relevant evidence of the settlor’s intent. How a… Read More
Many parents, in planning their estates, add an adult child’s name to the title of their home, bank account or other assets. This may not be the best approach to estate planning, and may have unintended consequences. Joint tenant approach Gift tax problem Capital Gains Tax Problem Attacks by creditors Divorce Accident Loss of control “Joint tenant” approach The most common way to do this is to make the child a “joint tenant with full rights of survivorship”. This means that when one joint owner dies, the other joint owner automatically acquires sole ownership of the property. Theoretically, adding your… Read More
In times of recession, it is very wise to have a form of asset protection. Asset protection is the process of protecting a personal or business property from risks such as bankruptcy, lawsuits, divorce settlements, and claims. It is sometimes referred to as the debtor-creditor law. If you lose a lawsuit, you could lose your life savings or even everything you own. Even giant corporations and conglomerates are not exempted from the perils of bankruptcy. More often than not they are the first to go down in times of financial crisis and recession. Only those who are wise enough to… Read More
One of the financial advice sites we like is ClarkHoward.com. He’s a common-sense guy who doesn’t like to waste money. Recently, he posted this video Separate Your Credit When you Separate from Your Spouse about an issue people sometimes encounter after separating. We hope you’ll find it enlightening, but never need to use it! Feel free to forward it to family and friends, however.
