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Estate Planning Defined – Can The Trustee of a Continuing Trust Who is Also The Beneficiary Withdraw Trust Principal?
Issue: I recently received the following question from a Caller: I am a beneficiary of a “Bypass Trust,” which was set up after my Father’s death and had been managed for the benefit of my Mother during her remaining lifetime. My Mother just died. I have been told that my share of the property remaining […]
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Estate Planning Defined – What are the “Pros” and “Cons” of “Transmuting” Property Owned by a Married Couple in California?
Issue: Married couples who reside in California have the opportunity to accumulate community property, separate property, quasi-community property, or some combination of the three. Sometimes a married person may wish to convert his or her separate property to the community property of the married couple or even to the separate property of the other spouse. […]
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Estate Planning Defined – How Can an HEIR AT LAW Recover Her Share of an Inheritance After the Close of the Probate of Her Relative’s Estate?
I recently received a question from a potential client who called me regarding the probate of a relative’s estate. She told me that her relative died without a Last Will & Testament in place. Apparently, the Caller was not notified that her relative had died and she did not receive any property from her relative’s […]
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Estate Planning Defined – What Is Community Property?
In this post, I define community property, which is a term that, I have found, is not always clearly understood by those who use it. First, community property can be either real property (farm land, raw land, land improved with buildings, a condominium, a townhouse, a single family dwelling, etc.) or personal property (bank accounts, […]
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Estate Planning Defined – What Is an “Estate Plan”? (Part 3 of 3)
This post is Part 3 of our 3-part series in which we answer the question: What is an “Estate Plan”? From Part 1 of this series, I gave you the general definition of an estate plan and listed the two primary types of estate plans: An Estate Plan that is built around a Last Will […]
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Estate Planning Defined – What Is an “Estate Plan”? (Part 2 of 3)
This post is Part 2 of our 3-part series in which we answer the question: What is an “Estate Plan”? From Part 1 of this series, I gave you the general definition of an estate plan and listed the two primary types of estate plans: An Estate Plan that is built around a Last Will […]
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Estate Planning Defined – What Is an “Estate Plan”? (Part 1 of 3)
Hello! Welcome to the first blog post of Estate Planning Defined. I am James B. Creighton, attorney at law, and I am the author of this blog, which is intended to provide estate planning, probate, trust, and long term care planning information to the community. My firm is Creighton Law Offices and we are located […]