Property Taxes

By Tamara Polley

It’s that time of year again, when homeowners pay their annual property taxes … Happy holidays! This year we are faced with two things we don’t want to think about in these tough economic times: taxes and reduced property values. … Continue reading →

Living Trust and Power of Attorney

By Tirzah Woodward

Estate planning is more than just transferring assets to your loved ones upon your death. Perhaps more importantly, good estate planning includes choosing the right people to manage your financial affairs in the event you cannot do so. Most estate … Continue reading →

The Ins and Outs of Probate

By Jim Gianelli

Probate is a court process set up to assure that upon one’s death, assets get distributed to the people in one’s will (or in absence of a will, to one’s legal heirs), creditors get paid, and disputes are settled. Probate … Continue reading →

Medi-Cal Benefits for Long-Term Care

By Tamara Polley

The article Long Term Care Cost that Jim wrote outlined Medi-Cal benefits for long-term skilled nursing care. To receive these benefits, an applicant must have limited resources. What if you have too much money to qualify, but not enough to … Continue reading →

Communicate Clearly

By Tirzah Woodward

Hopefully you’ve followed the advice in our past articles … but you’re not done yet! Here are a few more tips vital to proper estate planning, and to ensuring that your survivors can easily honor your wishes. Keep documents up … Continue reading →

Starting The Process

By Jim Gianelli

When it comes to planning your estate, it’s best to start the process with an estate planning attorney, preferably a state-certified specialist. But other advisors may play a vital role: your accountant, banker, insurance agent, financial advisor or broker. You … Continue reading →

Death of a Spouse

By Jim Gianelli

Your spouse has died, and whether or not the death was sudden and unexpected or gradual and expected, you are in shock. Your mind is just not working quite right. The realization of what has happened – and the grief … Continue reading →

Long-Term Care Cost

By Jim Gianelli

Did you know you can lose your home to the state as a result of the state paying your long-term care costs? Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence. Let’s discuss the problem and ways to avoid it. Consider this real … Continue reading →

Why Planning Matters

By Jim Gianelli

Let me tell you a sad but true story that carries an important message: It pays to plan ahead. Two brothers sought my advice when their parents were severely injured in an out-of-state automobile accident. The father was in extremely … Continue reading →

Revocable Living Trust

By Jim Gianelli

This article describes one of the most important and popular estate planning tools in California, a revocable living trust. This is an estate planning document that is, in many respects, a substitute for a Last Will and Testament. “Revocable” means … Continue reading →