“Protecting Your Family Tree”

Estate Planning:

Estate planning is a compilation of legal documents generally including a revocable living trust, pour-over will, durable power of attorney for financial affairs and an advance health care directive. Who needs an estate plan? Everyone.

Everyone needs an estate plan as we all may be involved in an unexpected accident or suffer from diminished capacity. We all will eventually pass away. Having an estate plan gives you the ability to make the decisions of who will assist your loved ones during these devastating times.

Every state has different estate planning laws. In the State of California, when a person passes away, if they have more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) of aggregate net assets and if these assets are not titled in a trust, then these assets are subject to a court process called probate. Also, if a person passes away simply owning real property (regardless if there is a reverse mortgage owing on the property or equity in the property), then this asset is also subject to probate.

The problem with our probate system in the State of California is it is an expensive, public process. Once your estate goes through probate, everything about you, your financial affairs, and your beneficiaries becomes public. This is to ensure that creditors can locate your assets and file claims against your estate. In this modern world of identity theft, keeping your affairs private is critical not optional.

Finally, having an estate plan enables you to decide who inherits and at what “ages and stages” your loved ones will inherit.

VA Benefits:

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a free long-term care benefit that pays $1,094 to $2,020 monthly, to qualified veterans that served during wartime and their surviving spouses who are facing rising care expenses.

• What is the VA Long-Term Care Benefit?
• Who is Eligible?
• How Do I Apply?
• What Documents Do I Need?
• How Does the Process Work?
• How Can We Help Every Step of the Way?

Even if you have been previously denied for the benefit, or you think that you may not qualify, we still may be able to help.

Medi-Cal:

What is Medi-Cal and how does it work?
Medi-Cal is the State of California’s version of the federal Medicaid program that provides additional health insurance for qualified individuals who are at least 65 years of age,or who are blind or disabled.

One of the greatest fears of many Americans is that they will outlive their money. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are the primary reasons for immediate depletion of a person’s personal wealth. Without Medi-Cal, a skilled nursing home resident can expect to pay between $4,500 and $7,500 per month for standard care. (Residents receiving sub-acute or additional Medi-Cal care can expect to pay between $16,000 and $24,000 per month.) Depending upon the location and level of care, skilled nursing home costs between $54,000 and $288,000 per year. A Medi-Cal recipient often pays only a small fraction of their skilled nursing home care expenses.

When Should I Begin Planning?
Careful planning whether in advance or in response to an unanticipated need for care can help protect you, your estate, your spouse and your loved ones. One way of protecting yourself is by having long-term health care insurance. Another way of protecting yourself is by doing advanced estate planning. When should you begin planning for Medi-Cal? The sooner you begin the process, the better. Early Medi-Cal qualification planning provides you with more options, including creating estate planning documents with Medi-Cal planning language to ensure that your appointed agent can carry out further Medi-Cal eligibility planning if you later become incapacitated. Proper estate planning documents should also insure that your appointed agent has legal authority to implement an appropriate Medi-Cal estate recovery minimization or avoidance plan.

Many individuals do Medi-Cal planning in a time of crisis. This is both unfair and risky. It is unfair because your loved ones will need to spend time in discussions with your attorney when they would prefer to be at your hospital bedside being your advocate. It is also risky because if planning is done within thirty (30) months of your passing, then all gifting and transfers will be “undone” by the State of California and ultimately taken as repayment of medical expenses.

We Can Help:
We understand that Medi-Cal planning can be an emotional undertaking for you and your family. Our office will make the Medi-Cal process as easy as possible by providing the following legal services:

• Preparation and explanation of alternative Medi-Cal planning strategies available for your specific situation
• Implementation of the Medi-Cal qualification strategy of your choice
• Preparation of the Medi-Cal application forms
• Our office will deal directly with Medi-Cal on your behalf through the completion of the application process
• Preparation of estate planning documents with Medi-Cal planning provisions and preparation of all documents necessary to reduce or eliminate Medi-Cal estate recovery (if applicable).

Probate:

What Is Probate?
In the State of California, when a person passes away, if they have more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) of aggregate net assets and if these assets are not titled in a trust, then these assets are subject to a court process called probate.

The reason so many people in the State of California have living trusts is not because they are necessarily wealthy, it is because they have been advised of the many problems associated with the probate process.

With an estate plan, your loved ones will inherit your assets as quickly as 120 days. Through the probate process, your loved ones will not inherit your assets until a minimum of six months from the date court proceedings are started and usually between one to two years after that time.

Finally, the worst aspect of probate is that fees are statutory. This means the cost of probate has been predetermined by the State of California based on the aggregate gross value of assets going through probate. This process can prove to be very expensive and time consuming.

Whether assisting you with the prevention of probate or guiding you through the probate process once it has already been initiated, our firm can help!

Corporate Law:

For our clients who are business owners or have wealth to protect, our firm assists clients with incorporating, observing corporate formalities in addition to buy sell agreements and succession planning.