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Month: April 2023

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If you’re a pet owner, you know the special bond that exists between you and your pets, and to many pet owners, our furry friends aren’t just a pet – they’re a loved and important part of our families. So if you’re thinking about how best to provide for your family after you die or if you become incapacitated, it makes sense for your beloved pet to be a part of the plan.

You want your pet to continue to have the kind of love and care you provided during your life, but estate planning for furry friends requires a little more thought than you might expect. 

To understand why, it’s important to know two things:

  • A pet is considered property under the law.
  • When someone receives a gift of property through a will, that person can do whatever they want with that property, including your pet.

A Will Won’t Cut It

While you see them as part of the family, under the law, a pet is considered personal property, just like your money, furniture, and clothes. Because of this, you can’t actually leave money or possessions to your pet directly through your will or trust. Even if you try to leave money directly to your pet in your will, the money will instead skip your pet and pass to the beneficiaries you named to receive the remainder of your possessions. Or, if you didn’t name anyone else, the court will give your possessions, including your pet, to your next of kin, as determined under the law.

Worst of all, the person that receives your pet and money for its care through your will has no legal obligation to use that money for your pet’s care or to even keep your pet at all. That’s why it’s so critically important to work with an estate planning attorney who knows the proper way to plan for your pet, so that when you die or if you become incapacitated, your beloved companion won’t end up in an animal shelter or given away to anyone you wouldn’t want raising your beloved familiar.

A Will Provides No Guarantees For Their Future

Because you can’t leave money to your pet directly, your first thought might be to leave your pet and money for its care to someone you trust through your will instead. While this is an option, it’s not guaranteed to work.

That’s because the person you name as the beneficiary of your pet in your will has no legal obligation to use the funds you leave for your pet’s care for that purpose. Even if you leave detailed instructions for your pet’s care, there is no law holding the beneficiary to accept the responsibility of caring for your pet or stopping them from changing their mind in the future after the court probate process is finished.

You might be thinking that the person you’d leave your pet to loves them and would never think of abandoning them. But even if this person is committed to caring for your pet, it’s simply impossible to predict what circumstances might occur in the future that could make it impossible for them to provide for your pet for your pet’s full lifetime.

For example, when you die, the new caregiver might:

  • Live in an apartment or condo that doesn’t allow pets
  • Suffer from an unforeseen illness that makes it difficult to care for your pet
  • Have an allergy to your pet you knew nothing about
  • Become so busy with work or family that they just don’t have the time to make a lifelong commitment to your pet’s care

A Will Isn’t Fast Enough

The other issue a will creates for your pet is that a will is required by law to go through the court process known as probate before any of your property can be distributed to the people you’ve named, and of course, it only operates in the event of your death, not your incapacity.

The probate process itself can take months or even years to complete. During that time, your pet could be passed around between family members and friends, who may even argue over who should care for it. In the worst-case scenario, no one may even think to check in on your pet regularly while the court process is unfolding.

Plus, a will only goes into effect upon your death, so if you’re incapacitated by accident or illness, it would do nothing to protect your companion. This leaves your pet in limbo and vulnerable to being re-homed to someone you wouldn’t have chosen or wanted to care for your pet. In the worst scenario, your pet could be surrendered to a shelter by the time everything gets figured out.

Provide Long-Lasting Care for Your Pet Through a Pet Trust

In order to be completely confident that your pet is properly taken care of and that the money you leave for its care is used exactly as intended, ask us to help you create a pet trust.

By creating a pet trust, you can lay out detailed, legally binding rules for how your pet’s chosen caregiver (the trustee) can use the funds you leave for your furry friend. And unlike a will, a pet trust doesn’t go through probate, so it goes into effect immediately in the event you become incapacitated or pass away, whereas a will requires the court process called probate to take place before any decisions can officially be made about your pet.

Additionally, in a pet trust, you can name backup trustees who will receive your pet and any funds left for them if the first person you chose as trustee declines to take your pet or isn’t able to care for them in the future. To add even more certainty to your pet’s future, you can name multiple trustees for your pet. In this way, you’d have two people invested in the care of your pet who can see that the money you leave for its care is used wisely.

Finally, all of the care decisions and financial distributions for the care of your pet will happen in the privacy of our office, in the event of your death or incapacity. We’ll guide your decision-makers about how and why you made your decisions, and how they need to care for your pet to receive distributions. You’ll literally have a lawyer ensuring the care of your pet happens as you would want it. While that may seem excessive for some, we have many clients who care that much about the well-being of their pets and want to ensure their care is handled as they want.

Do Right By Your Pet

Don’t leave your beloved pet’s future up to chance. Let us help you create a pet trust that will provide for your furry friend’s long-term care and be there for your pet and your decision-makers when you cannot be.

At our firm, we can help you create a legally binding pet trust that outlines detailed rules for how your pet’s chosen caregiver can use the funds you leave for their care. Unlike a will, a pet trust doesn’t go through probate, which means it goes into effect immediately if you become incapacitated or pass away. We’ll be there for the people you love when you cannot.

Contact us today to schedule a consultation and ensure you’re doing right by your pet.

This article is a service of Brittany Cohen, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session, during which you’ll get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

[email protected]

858-427-0539

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Stephen Laurel Boss, also known as “tWitch,” was an American DJ, hip-hop dancer, choreographer, television producer, and actor whose personality lit up the stage on So You Think You Can Dance and as a producer and frequent guest host on The Ellen Degeneres Show. Boss also co-hosted the TV show Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings alongside his wife and fellow dancer, Allison Holkers.

Boss and Holkers shared a seemingly extremely happy life together in Los Angeles, California where they were raising their three children, ages 3, 7, and 14. Sadly, on December 13, 2022, Boss died by suicide at the age of 40. Boss’ death was a complete shock to fans and loved ones who reported the star seemed happy in the weeks leading up to his death.

Boss died without a will or trust in place, meaning his wife, Allison Holker, has the task of petitioning the California court system to release Boss’ share of their assets to her. While California has tools to simplify this process for some couples, Holker will still need to wait months before she can formally take possession of the property Boss owned with her, as well as property held in his name alone, including his share of his production company, royalties, and his personal investment account.

Unnecessary Court Involvement In a Time of Grief

In order to have access to her late husband’s assets, Holker had to make a public filing in the Los Angeles County Probate Court by filing a California Spousal Property Petition, which asks the court to transfer ownership of a deceased spouse’s property to the surviving spouse. Holker must also prove she was legally married to Boss at the time of his death.

While California’s Spousal Property Petition helps speed up an otherwise lengthy probate court process, the court’s involvement nonetheless delays Holker’s ability to access her late husband’s assets – a hurdle no one wants to deal with in the wake of a devastating loss. In addition, the court probate process is entirely public, meaning that the specific assets Holker is trying to access are made part of the public record and available for anyone to read.

During such a difficult time, all a person wants is the space to mourn and manage their loved one’s affairs in privacy and peace. With court involvement, the timeline of steps that need to be taken is dictated by the court, and the process of proving your right to manage your loved one’s assets can feel like an unfair burden when there are so many other things to take care of during the death of a loved one.

This isn’t just a problem for the wealthy. Even if you own a modest estate at your death, your family will need to go through the probate court process to transfer ownership of your assets if you don’t have an estate plan in place.

How to Prevent This From Happening to Your Loved Ones

When someone dies without an estate plan in place, the probate court’s involvement can be a lengthy and public affair. At a minimum, you can expect the probate process to last at least 6 months and oftentimes as long as 18 months or more. Court involvement in Boss’ passing could have been completely avoided if Boss and Holker had created a revocable living trust to hold their family’s assets. If they had, Holker would have had immediate access to all of the couple’s assets upon Boss’ death, eliminating the need to petition a court or wait for its approval before accessing the funds that rightly belong to her.

A trust would have also kept the family’s finances private. With a trust, only the person in charge of managing the trust assets (the trustee) and the trust’s direct beneficiaries need to know how the assets in a trust are used. There is also no court-imposed timeline on the trustee for taking care of your final matters (with the exception of some tax elections), so your family can move at the pace that’s right for them when the time comes to put your final affairs in order.

The privacy that a trust provides also helps to eliminate potential family conflict because only the parties directly involved in the trust will know what the trust says. If issues between family members arise over the contents of the trust, the trust will lay out all of your wishes in detail, so that all family members are on the same page and understand your wishes for the ones you’ve left behind.

Guidance for You and the Ones You Love

Most importantly, creating a revocable living trust through usensures your loved ones have someone to turn to for guidance and support during times of uncertainty. No one expects the sudden loss of a loved one, but when it happens, your world is shaken. Even the simplest tasks can feel overwhelming, let alone the work involved to manage a loved one’s affairs.

That’s why we welcome you to meet with us for a Family Wealth Planning Session to discuss your wishes for when you die or if you become incapacitated. During the session, we’ll walk you through all of your options for estate planning and how your choices will impact your loved ones after you’re gone. We even encourage you to bring your family with you to your planning session so they have a chance to meet us.

If you’re ready to start the estate planning process, contact us at (858) 427-0539, or click here to schedule your Family Wealth Planning session today.

This article is a service of Brittany Cohen, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session, during which you’ll get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

[email protected]

858-427-0539

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If you’re tempted to use a DIY estate planning service or have already created a plan you aren’t 100% confident in, be sure to read how these three simple mistakes can derail your estate plan and leave your family with an expensive mess.

We regularly meet with clients who ask us to review an estate plan that they created online or with an attorney who isn’t experienced with estate planning. You see, these clients usually think they found a faster and cheaper solution to estate planning, but once the plan is signed and done, they’re often left wondering whether this “cheap” plan will actually accomplish their goals, or if it will leave their family with a big mess instead. What I see time and again when I review these estate plans are poorly designed plans with simple but devastating mistakes. What’s more, these clients wouldn’t even realize their plan had these mistakes if they hadn’t met with us!

While it might seem simple enough to put together a trust online or have your tax attorney prepare your will, it can be very difficult to create an estate plan that works without the proper training and experience. What might seem like minor details to the inexperienced eye can often have major effects on your plan’s final outcome.

More often than not, clients who meet with us to review a DIY plan find out that instead of saving money on their estate plan, they’ve actually cost themselves much more by buying a plan that has mistakes. And if these mistakes aren’t caught by you while you’re alive and well, your loved ones will be the ones paying the price to resolve them after you’re gone.

Here are the three biggest mistakes I see when reviewing DIY and low-cost estate plans:

Leaving Assets Outright to Loved Ones

One of the simplest mistakes you can make in estate planning is distributing your assets directly to your beneficiaries upon your death. This is a bad idea for several reasons:

  • The assets have no protection from your beneficiaries’ creditors once they leave your estate.
  • The money can be squandered and used however the beneficiary wants.
  • If the beneficiary is a minor, a court will decide who manages the assets and how they’ll be used.

Instead of gifting your assets directly to your beneficiaries, distribute your assets into a trust for the beneficiaries’ benefit. When creating a trust, you can choose who will manage your assets for your beneficiaries while also sheltering those assets from your beneficiaries’ creditors or their own poor money-management skills.

Setting up a trust to hold your assets is especially important if you have minor children. Minors cannot own money on their own, which means they can’t receive any assets from you directly on your death. Instead, a court will need to appoint a trustee or conservator to manage the assets you leave for your children. There’s a high chance that the person the court appoints will not be the person you would have chosen yourself. And if the court appoints a professional trustee, your assets will be reduced by expensive trust administration fees.

A court-appointed trustee will distribute the assets to your children outright when they reach the age of 18, but this only puts the assets at risk. Few young adults have the maturity or knowledge to manage a large sum of money responsibly so that it can grow and support them over time. Even if your adult child is responsible or has guidance from someone you trust, those assets are still susceptible to any lawsuits, divorces, and unforeseen financial troubles your child may experience in the future.

Instead of leaving assets outright to a minor or young adult, leaving your assets in a trust, established for the child’s benefit, allows you to choose the person who will manage the assets you leave for them, helps the assets grow through careful financial management, and protects the assets from your child’s lack of experience and future risk.

Not Creating a Lifetime Asset Protection Trust

Creating a trust to hold your assets can provide years of asset protection for your loved ones, but that protection only exists so long as the assets are held in the name of the trust. The second big mistake I see are trusts that direct the assets to be taken out of the trust’s protection and given to your child or beneficiary at a specific age. You might not see the problem with this scenario at first, but even if your child or beneficiary is mature enough to manage a sum of money, doing this still leaves those assets susceptible to future legal and financial risks.

Instead, everyone should consider creating a Lifetime Asset Protection Trust to hold their beneficiaries’ assets indefinitely. This gives the assets lifelong protection while still providing financial support to your beneficiaries.

Unfortunately, most lawyers don’t understand how to use trusts to establish this kind of protection for the inheritance you’re leaving behind, and some may even try to dissuade you from using a trust at all unless you have a very large estate. Even if you’re leaving behind a small number of assets, protecting those assets and helping them grow can make a huge difference in the future well-being of your loved ones.

Forgetting to Update Beneficiary Designations

This final mistake is so simple yet so easily forgotten when creating a DIY plan or using an inexperienced estate planner: forgetting to update your insurance policies and retirement beneficiary designations so they match your estate plan. While your will and trust are important parts of your estate plan, it’s vital to update your insurance policies and retirement accounts to pay out to your trust instead of directly to your beneficiaries.

Leaving the names of your beneficiaries on your insurance and retirement accounts instead of the name of your trust ensures the largest assets you own won’t be a part of the plan you just created. Instead, the assets will be distributed directly to the beneficiaries listed on the account, to do with however they want, even if you had other plans for protecting the funds under your trust. We’ve even seen cases where the beneficiaries named on a life insurance or retirement account are so outdated that the person named on the account isn’t even a part of the client’s life anymore!

Estate Planning That Works

In order to make sure your estate plan truly works the way you intend it to, it’s essential that all of your assets are reviewed and accounted for to make sure that any accounts you have reflect the name of your trust or other estate plan method. That’s why we always create an inventory of your assets and follow up with you to make sure your assets are updated into the name of your trust. We can even update your assets for you, so you can rest assured that every piece of your plan works together.

If you’re thinking about using a DIY estate planning service or had an estate plan created by an attorney in a different practice area,  it’s crucial to check your plan for these three simple but major mistakes. Otherwise, your estate plan might end up causing more problems than it solves, leaving your family in court and conflict.

That’s why we offer to review your current estate plan during a Family Wealth Planning Session. During this session, you’ll have the opportunity to discuss your concerns, learn how your current plan will (or won’t) work for you, and if you don’t feel confident in your current estate plan, we’ll create a new comprehensive plan for you that will provide the protection and support your family needs for years to come.

Don’t let a simple estate planning mistake derail your plans for your family. Schedule your Family Wealth Planning Session. Your loved ones will thank you for it!

This article is a service of Brittany Cohen, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session, during which you’ll get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

[email protected]

858-427-0539

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I know discussing topics like death, incapacity, and other potentially frightening life events, with someone like me, an estate planning lawyer, may feel intimidating or even morbid. Take a deep breath and relax… it doesn’t have to and shouldn’t be that way.

Hiring a lawyer to help you make wise decisions for life and death can be the most empowering choice you ever make for yourself and your loved ones. The way I explain it to my friends and family is, “estate planning isn’t about planning for your death, it’s about planning for your life.” So, with that frame in mind, let’s talk about how to choose an estate planning attorney, because we aren’t all cut from the same cloth.

The right lawyer will be there for your family when you can’t be, so you want to understand who the lawyer is as a person, not just an attorney. Of course, you’ll also want to discover the services your lawyer offers and how they run their business.

Here are five questions to ensure you don’t end up paying for legal services you don’t need, expect, or want. Once you know exactly what you should be looking for when choosing an estate planning lawyer, you’ll be much better positioned to hire an attorney that will provide the kind of love, attention, care, and trust your family deserves.

01 | How Do They Bill For Their Services?

Your first question to a lawyer may be, “how much does it cost?” But that’s typically only because you aren’t clear on what else to ask. So we’re going to give you an upgrade here.

The first question to ask isn’t “how much does it cost,” but rather, “how do you bill for your services and how do you determine what to bill for your services?”

The right lawyer for you will have a clear answer that helps you understand how they determine how much to charge you and how you’ll be charged. They’ll set clear boundaries and expectations around fees – so there are no surprises.

When working with an estate planning lawyer, find a lawyer who bills for all their services on a flat-fee, no surprises, basis —and never hourly—unless a court requires it for limited “court-related” services.

Your lawyer should determine the fees they charge you only after guiding you through a process of discovery in which they learn about your family dynamics and your assets and educate you about what would happen for your family and assets if and when something happens to you. Through that process, they will help you choose the right plan that meets your budget and desired outcomes.

At my firm, all of our fees are a flat-fee, agreed to in advance, and you choose your fee through our Family Wealth Planning Session process, during which we educate you about the law, and you educate us about your family dynamics and assets. Then, you choose the right plan, at the right price, for the people you love.

02 | How Will Your Lawyer Respond To Your Needs On An Ongoing Basis?

One of people’s biggest complaints about working with lawyers is a lack of responsiveness. We’ve even heard of situations in which clients went weeks without getting a call back from their lawyer. It’s unfortunate, and yet it makes sense when a lawyer doesn’t have systems in place to ensure they can serve their existing clients and respond to the needs of past clients.

So, to ensure your lawyer can be responsive to your needs, ask them how quickly calls are typically returned in their office and if someone will be on-hand to answer quick questions when and as needed.

Ideally, all calls to your lawyer should be pre-scheduled with a clear agenda, so you both can be ready to focus on your specific needs.

03 | How Will Your Lawyer Proactively Communicate With You On An Ongoing Basis?

Sadly, most lawyers fail to communicate regularly with their clients. As a result, if you’ve created an estate plan in the past, you may have had a “checked off the list and done” kind of experience and not even realized that estate planning means a lifetime of wise legal and financial decisions, not a one-and-done kind of thing.

Unfortunately, most lawyers don’t have their business systems set up for ongoing, proactive communication. They don’t have the time to get to know you or your family and then keep your plan up to date throughout your life.

Work with a lawyer who has systems to keep your plan updated to ensure your assets are protected (throughout your life) and who will communicate with you regularly.

Additionally, ask them how they will proactively support you in keeping your plan up to date on an ongoing basis and be there for your loved one’s when you can’t be.

Think of it this way: Your estate plan includes a set of documents, but your plan is far more than those documents. Your plan is an inventory of your assets, which changes throughout your life. It’s a structure and container for who and what your family will turn to when something happens to you.

You want to work with a lawyer with systems to keep your documents up to date and ensure your assets are owned correctly throughout your lifetime. Ideally, the lawyer should get to know you and your family over time so that when something happens, your lawyer can be there for the people you love. There will already be an underlying relationship and trust.

04 | Can You Call About Any Legal Problem Or Just About Matters Within Their Specialty?

Given the complexity of today’s legal world, lawyers must have specialized training in one or more specific practice areas, such as divorce, bankruptcy, wills and trusts, personal injury, business, criminal matters, or employment law. You do NOT want to work with a “door law” attorney – a lawyer who professes to be an expert in whatever random legal issue walks through the door.

That said, you do want your personal lawyer to have broad enough expertise to consult with him or her about all sorts of legal and financial issues that may come up in your life—and trust he or she will be able to offer you sound guidance about whether you have a legal issue, or not. And while your lawyer won’t be able to advise you on all legal matters, he or she should be able to refer you to other trusted professionals who can help you.

Trust me, you wouldn’t want the lawyer who designed your estate plan also to handle your personal injury claim, settle a dispute with your landlord, and advise you on your divorce. But you do want him or her to be there to hear your story, refer you to a highly qualified lawyer who specializes in that area, and overall, serve as your go-to legal consultant.

In this capacity, you can consult your personal lawyer before you sign any legal documents, any time you have a legal or financial issue arise, or whenever anything that might adversely affect your family or business comes up, and know that you’ll get excellent guidance.

05 | What Happens When They Die Or Retire?

We all die, including your lawyer. And they may retire before they die. So be sure to ask what the plan is for your plan and your family when they do.

This is a critically important—and often overlooked—question to ask your lawyer and any service professional before beginning a relationship. Sure, it may be uncomfortable to ask. A client-centered professional will have a succession plan to ensure their clients are cared for no matter what happens to the lawyer managing your plan.

Look for a lawyer with a detailed plan that will ensure that someone warm and caring will take over your planning without any interruption of service.

Here at our law firm, we work with a community of lawyers just like us who serve clients as a Personal Family Lawyer with Life & Legacy Planning.  We have a network of successor attorneys who practice with the same morals and model as we do, so if anything happens to us, you will be treated with the same level of care and relationship that we provide.

A Lasting Relationship

Although hiring the right estate planning lawyer may not seem that important, it’s one of the most critical choices you can make for yourself and your family. After all, this is the individual you trust to serve on your behalf to protect and provide for your loved ones during one of life’s most emotionally challenging experiences.

Should you choose the wrong person for the job, your family could face unnecessary conflicts, expenses, and legal entanglements when they’re most vulnerable. Ultimately, estate planning is far more than having a lawyer create a set of documents for you and then never seeing you again or only seeing you when something goes wrong.

We develop a relationship with you and your family that lasts a lifetime. Our unique, family-centered legal services are specifically tailored to provide our clients with the kind of love, attention, and trust we’d want for our loved ones. To learn more about our one-of-a-kind systems and services, schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session today.

This article is a service of Brittany Cohen, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session, during which you’ll get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

[email protected]

858-427-0539