BUSCH FARREN, LLP

The State Bar of California has great pamphlets to guide consumers. Here is an explanation from one of the pamphlets explaining WHO needs estate planning: "You dowhether your estate is large or small. Either way, you should designate someone to manage your assets and make health care and personal care decisions for you if you ever become unable to do so for yourself. If your estate is small, you may simply focus on who will receive your assets after your death, and who sho...uld manage your estate, pay your last debts and handle the distribution of your assets. If your estate is large, your lawyer will also discuss various ways of preserving your assets for your beneficiaries and of reducing or postponing the amount of estate tax which otherwise might be payable after your death. If you fail to plan ahead, a judge will simply appoint someone to handle your assets and personal care. And your assets will be distributed to your heirs according to a set of rules known as intestate succession. Contrary to popular myth, everything does not automatically go to the state if you die without a will. Your relatives, no matter how remote, and, in some cases, the relatives of your spouse will have priority in inheritance ahead of the state. Still, they may not be your choice of heirs; an estate plan gives you much greater control over who will inherit your assets after your death." http://www.calbar.ca.gov//Fr/Legal-Guides/Estate-Planning

At BUSCH | FARREN, LLP we provide compassionate and comprehesive represenation for after death estate adminisitration state-wide. We reccomend that our clients execute comprehesive estate plans to avoid Probate, however sometimes that does not happen and we then guide our clients through the Probate process. There are many common misconceptions about the California Probate process and after death estate administration in general. Estate administration differs greatly from sta...te to state, and in California is heavily regulated and guided. The California Bar Association website provides a great overview of the Probate process: "Probate is a court-supervised process for transferring a deceased person’s assets to the beneficiaries listed in his or her will. Typically, the executor named in your will would start the process after your death by filing a petition in court and seeking appointment. Your executor would then take charge of your assets, pay your debts and, after receiving court approval,distribute the rest of your estate to your beneficiaries. If you were to die intestate (that is, without a will), a relative or other interested person could start the process. In such an instance, the court would appoint an administrator to handle your estate. Personal representative is another term used to describe the administrator or executor appointed to handle an estate. Simpler procedures are available for transferring property to a spouse or domestic partner or for handling estates in which the total assets amount to less than $150,000. The probate process has advantages and dis-advantages. The probate court is accustomed to resolving disputes about the distribution of assets fairly quickly through a process with defined rules. In addition, the probate court reviews the personal representative’s handling of each estate, which can help protect the beneficiaries’ interests. One disadvantage, however, is that probates are public. Your estate plan and the value of your assets will become a public record. Also, because lawyer’s fees and executor’s commissions are based on a statutory fee schedule, a probate may cost more than the management and distribution of a comparable estate under a living trust. Time can be a factor as well. A probate proceeding generally takes longer than the administration of a living trust. Discuss such advantages and disadvantages with an estate planning lawyer before making any decisions." http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Pub/Pamphlets/EstatePlanning.aspx

Why should you seek advice from an attorney instead of drafting a holographic (hand-written) or online generated will yourself? This case was handed down this week from the Supreme Court of the State of California, demonstrating why having a legal professional involved in your estate planning is so important. Estate of Duke Filed July 27, 2015, California Supreme Court ... Cite as S199435 Testator's holographic will provided that his wife would receive his estate, but if he and his wife died simultaneously, charities would receive his estate. The will did not provide for disposition of the estate if wife predeceased testator which is exactly what occurred. The charities claimed they should receive the estate because testator provided for them if his wife was deceased at the time of his death. Testator's nephews claimed that the will failed, and they were entitled to receive the estate as testator’s intestate heirs. The probate court granted the nephews’ motion for summary judgment, finding that the will was unambiguous, and declined to consider extrinsic evidence of testator’s intent. The appellate court affirmed, based on Estate of Barnes (1965) 63 Cal.2d 580. The California Supreme Court reversed, and abrogated the Barnes rule that extrinsic evidence may never be introduced to reform an unambiguous will. Extrinsic evidence may be introduced to reform an unambiguous will if clear and convincing evidence establishes an error in the expression of the testator’s intent, and also establishes the testator's true intent, at the time the will was drafted. http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S199435.PDF

The State Bar of California has great pamphlets to guide consumers. Here is an explanation from one of the pamphlets explaining WHO needs estate planning: "You dowhether your estate is large or small. Either way, you should designate someone to manage your assets and make health care and personal care decisions for you if you ever become unable to do so for yourself. If your estate is small, you may simply focus on who will receive your assets after your death, and who s...hould manage your estate, pay your last debts and handle the distribution of your assets. If your estate is large, your lawyer will also discuss various ways of preserving your assets for your beneficiaries and of reducing or postponing the amount of estate tax which otherwise might be payable after your death. If you fail to plan ahead, a judge will simply appoint someone to handle your assets and personal care. And your assets will be distributed to your heirs according to a set of rules known as intestate succession. Contrary to popular myth, everything does not automatically go to the state if you die without a will. Your relatives, no matter how remote, and, in some cases, the relatives of your spouse will have priority in inheritance ahead of the state. Still, they may not be your choice of heirs; an estate plan gives you much greater control over who will inherit your assets after your death." http://calbar.ca.gov/Public/Pamphlets/EstatePlanning.aspx