Estate Planning Lawyer in Roseville CA

If you pride yourself on your decision making abilities, you’ll enjoy making your last will and testament. Don’t see the connection? It’s simple. Making a will gives you the final decision with regard to who gets which of your assets. If you die without a will, you have no say at all about it whatsoever.

As an estate planning lawyer in Roseville CA from a firm like Yee Law Group, PC can explain, if you die without having first made your will, your state deems you to have died intestate. This means that you left no instructions about the distribution of your assets. Consequently, the state steps in and distributes them according to whatever laws of intestacy and succession it has in place. All of this may have nothing to do with what you may have wished, but with no will, your state has nothing else to go on.

Natural Heirs

Each state has its own intestacy laws that specify your “natural heirs,” i.e., your family members it presumes should inherit from you, and the order in which they should inherit. In general, this order of succession goes as follows:

• Surviving spouse
• Surviving children, both biological and adopted
• Surviving parents
• Surviving siblings
• Surviving grandparents
• More distant relatives, such as surviving aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.

In the unlikely event that you leave no surviving family members whatsoever, your assets escheat, i.e., they go to your state itself.

Inheritance Amounts

In addition to determining who inherits from you, your state’s intestacy laws also determine how much each person gets. Some states give your surviving spouse (assuming you have one) half of your estate and the other half to your surviving children. Other states give your surviving spouse a specified amount before dividing the remainder of your estate 50-50 between him or her and your surviving children.

With regard to children, if one of your adult children predeceases you, but his or her children survive you, they share equally in whatever portion of your estate your child would have received had he or she survived you.

Who Gets Left Out

Intestacy laws take no notice of others, such as the following, who you may have wished to leave something to:

• Your friends
• Your business associates
• Your church
• Your alma mater
• Your favorite charity or nonprofit organization
• Your pet

After all, without your will to guide it, your state has no idea what your inheritance wishes may have been, and it will not attempt to read your mind after the fact.

Bottom line, if you feel strongly about who gets what when you die, the only way you can ensure that your wishes will be followed is to make a valid last will and testament.

Probate Lawyer Yolo County, CA

It can be confusing to plan for your death, but it doesn’t have to be. You can gather a list of your property and possessions and let everyone know how you want everything handled. However, as a probate lawyer for Yolo County, CA from a firm like Yee Law Group, PC can explain, sometimes the grief that comes with death can cause individuals to act irrationally as they cling to personal possessions or desperately take more than their share.

Instead of letting your family and friends fight over your estate, you should create a will to legally establish how you want everything handled when you die. To demystify the process of creating a will, you should include these four components.

1. Choose an Executor

When you name an executor, you appoint someone to stand in your place and follow the specific directives you have listed in your will. Although you may choose a family member, it is generally best to appoint someone competent from well outside the inheritance circle. Remember to ask them before assigning them the legal responsibility.

2. Care for Dependents

If you have children or pets, you will need to stipulate who they will live with after your death, and how money will be distributed to care for them. Have a meeting with the family members, ex-spouse, or friend you would like to designate as their guardian and ask them if they are up to the responsibility. This is especially important if your children are young or your pet is old, as either requires special care or attention.

3. Consider the Assets

In legal terms, your possessions are called “personal assets.” This would include your car, furniture, jewelry, and antiques. Your will needs to describe each item and name who the beneficiary will be, and the description should be detailed enough to differentiate the items. Do the same for your property. For those items you don’t care about passing on to someone, you can leave distribution up to your executor.

4. Personal Type Care

If you have any health care directives, you need to declare them in your will. This could be a detailed description of where you want to live, a living will, or a health care proxy. This is essential if your family members have strong opinions regarding how you should be taken care of and by whom.

A Will Lawyer

Contact an estate attorney or will lawyer to begin the process of creating a document that contains your final wishes. They can assist you in planning the distribution of your money, property, and possession. Your lawyer can also make sure the will is accurate and thorough.

Sacramento Trust Lawyer

As the old saying goes, death and taxes are the only sure things in this world. With regard to death taxes, i.e., estate taxes, both of these certainties occur at the same time.

As a Sacramento trust lawyer from a firm like Yee Law Group, PC can explain, currently, all estates having a value of over $11.7 million pay a federal estate tax of from 18% to 40% depending on the amount of the threshold overage. This $11.7 million exemption is set to fall to $5 million in 2026 unless Congress decides something different.

State Death Taxes

In addition to the federal estate tax, the following states and the District of Columbia impose their own death taxes:

• Connecticut
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• New York
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Washington

The exclusion amounts in these states currently range from a low of $1 million to a high of $5.74 million.

Reducing or Avoiding Estate Taxes

A well thought out estate plan, spearheaded by an experienced local estate planning lawyer, can help you reduce your estate taxes or even avoid them entirely. Some possibilities include the following:

• Giving some of your assets away while you’re still alive
• Placing some of them in one or more irrevocable trusts
• Placing some of them in a charitable trust
• Simply spending a lot of your money for your own enjoyment while you’re still alive

Making Gifts

Keep in mind that with regard to gifts, you can currently give up to $15,000 per year to as many people or entities as you wish without having to pay a federal gift tax. If you and your spouse make joint gifts, the exclusion increases to $30,000.

Unfortunately, there’s a lifetime federal gift tax exemption, but it’s a large one: currently $11.7 million for an individual and $23.4 million for a married couple. Similar to the federal estate tax, these exemption amounts will decrease to $6 million and $12 million respectively in 2026 unless Congress decides differently.

Only Connecticut and Minnesota impose their own state gift taxes.

Putting It All Together

As you might expect, setting up and implementing an effective estate plan can quickly become quite complicated depending on the extensiveness of your assets and what you wish to do with them. This is where an experienced local trust planning lawyer can be your best friend. He or she can explain the various taxes and other consequences involved and then help you construct a personalized, comprehensive estate plan that achieves your goals and objectives to the greatest extent possible – while protecting your beneficiaries from death taxes, too.

Estate Planning Lawyer in Folsom CA

Unless you are a legal professional, the ins and outs of estate plans may be somewhat nebulous to you. You may wonder what should be included in your plan, how detailed it must be, and how it should be written. As an estate planning lawyer in Folsom CA from a firm like Yee Law Group, PC can explain, you should consider several things you must keep in mind to form a thorough estate plan.

1. Will and Testament

Your last will and testament may cover a wide range of topics. If you have children who are minors, for example, your will should designate a guardian and backup guardian for them. Additionally, your will should address all of your assets, both the tangible and intangible ones. Be sure to include your bank accounts, retirement accounts, stocks, properties, vehicles, jewelry, and other valuables. 

2. Beneficiaries

When a person dies, his or her will is frequently handled in probate court. Probate can be time-consuming and expensive, so it’s best to make your will as transparent as possible. One way to minimize confusion is to let insurance companies and financial institutions know who will be the beneficiaries of your life insurance policies and retirement accounts. You can also set up some accounts to include a transfer on death designation.

3. Trusts

Depending on the size of your estate and how you wish your assets to be distributed, you may find it beneficial to set up a trust. Trusts can either be living or testamental, meaning they can come into effect before or after your death. You can also choose to create a revocable or irrevocable trust. The latter frequently has significant tax advantages.

4. Power of Attorney

In many situations, it’s critical that someone other than yourself be able to make key decisions regarding your estate. Otherwise, people may not know how to handle difficult choices if you are ill or badly injured. Durable power of attorney allows another person to make legal and financial decisions for you. You can also grant someone medical power of attorney so he or she can make choices regarding your medical care.

5. Debts and Taxes

To ensure your family members do not experience a financial burden when you die, it’s important to account for any outstanding debts or federal estate taxes you may owe. For example, if you will be passing on a retirement account, you may wish to convert it to a Roth IRA so the beneficiary isn’t responsible for paying the taxes.

Seeing to all the details of your estate can be an overwhelming process. Be sure to consult an estate planning lawyer to make sure your final wishes are expressed clearly and that you don’t pay more taxes than necessary.

Will Lawyer in Sacramento

Your last will and testimony are paramount to ensure that your wishes are carried out after your death. However, if you have disinherited some of your family members, it can complicate your plans, especially if one or more of them decides to contest your last wishes. As a will lawyer in Sacramento from a firm like Yee Law Group, PC can explain, there are a few things to consider to prevent your will from being contested. 

Consider Who Can Contest

Contesting a will can only be done by certain people and for certain reasons. Your spouse, children, and people mentioned in your current will or a prior will are the only ones who can contest. 

Affirm That You Are Uninfluenced and of Sound Mind

A common reason for contesting wills is the argument that the testator was not of sound mind at the time of signing. Being of sound mind does not mean you have a perfect mental capacity, but simply that you understand how much your estate is worth, who your beneficiaries are, and the impact your will may have.

Your will can also be contested if there is any suspicion that you were unduly influenced into writing it a certain way, or if someone believes that you were tricked into it. Your lawyer can provide documented proof that you deliberately wrote out and signed your own will by your own accord, and that you were of sound mind when you did it. Medical documents can also provide proof of your mental soundness. 

Have Your Will Properly Executed

Another legal reason for contesting a will is the claim that the will was not properly executed. In order to be valid, your will must be signed and witnessed according to your state laws. Have an estate planning lawyer with you every step of the process to ensure that your will is properly executed. 

Utilize the No-Contest Clause

Consider including a no-contest clause, also known as an in terrorem clause, which states that if anyone steps up to contest the will, they will receive absolutely nothing. 

Be careful when using the no-contest clause, however, as it can come with a few catches. A completely disinherited relative may consider that they have nothing to lose from challenging the no-contest clause. Consider leaving them a sum that is tempting enough to prevent them from contesting and possibly overturning the will. Also, in some states, there are exceptions to the clause which can render it pointless, while in others the no-contest clause is unenforceable. 

To prevent disinherited relatives from contesting your will, it’s imperative to have your will in order and understand your options. Contact your estate planning lawyer today to see what steps you can take to ensure that your last wishes are honored. 

Probate Attorney

The First Four Things To Do

If you’ve been named as the Executor or Executrix in the Last Will & Testament of a loved one, when they die, these are the first four things you should do:

1. First and foremost, you need to allow yourself the time to properly grieve. This cannot be overstated. Most likely the deceased was a close relative or friend and they trusted you to properly handle their estate otherwise you wouldn’t be in this position. You should take the time to come to terms with such a loss, but take comfort in the fact that as the Executor or Executrix you have been entrusted with carrying out the deceased’s final wishes. 
2. After allowing yourself time to grieve, you can begin your duties by collecting the original last will and testament of the deceased, a copy of the death certificate, and any information that you can obtain regarding the assets and debts of the deceased. These documents are necessary to proceed with the probate process and will serve to give you an initial albeit probably incomplete picture of the deceased’s estate, explain the lawyers from Carpenter & Lewis PLLC. 
3. Next, if the deceased had any open credit card accounts, you should notify those companies that the person has passed away so that they can close the accounts. Doing this prevents the possibility of the estate incurring debt from theft or fraudulent purchases. Also in some cases closing these accounts may stop the estate from incurring further interest debt on unpaid balances. Furthermore, if you are contacted by any creditors or debt collectors you should notify them that the person passed away and that you are in the process of consulting an attorney about probating the deceased’s estate. Unless you personally are responsible for the debt, do not proceed to pay any of the deceased’s debts until you have consulted with a knowledgeable probate attorney. As the Executor or Executrix of the estate, you are not personally liable for the debts of the decedent and you should not pay these debts personally. 
4. You should consult a knowledgeable probate attorney to help you decide how to proceed, including helping you obtain an official document from the county probate court that authorizes you to act for the estate, and to know how to conduct further communication with debt collectors and creditors of the estate.  

Any attorney can advise and help you with the probate process and in some cases, estates may not need to be probated at all. Regardless of the size or complexity of the estate, you should consult a knowledgeable probate attorney to help guide you through the process and make sure you comply with your duties pursuant to the law.