Camarillo Estate Law And Real Estate Law Blog

Your estate plan should not be static because your life is always changing. You may have put great care into the initial formation of your plan, but if you have not recently reviewed it, your plan is probably outdated.

Some people get into a routine of reviewing their estate plans every year or two. This can be beneficial because laws are frequently changing. As laws change, your estate planning strategy may also change to help you make the most of your estate plan.

Most California residents know that estate planning involves creating a legal structure for dispersing one's finances after his or her death. A will may also provide instructions for health care preferences, funeral arrangements and power of attorney. While it may seem that these issues primarily affect people in older age brackets, there are numerous reasons to create an estate plan at a younger age.

Many people start to think about estate planning when they achieve certain milestones, such as getting married, having children or retiring. As many Millennials are taking longer to reach these milestones, a young person who does not have a spouse or significant financial assets may not think estate planning is necessary. However, dying without a will may have unintended consequences. According to FindLaw, when a person dies without a will, the state distributes that person's assets according to existing laws. If there are no relatives that meet the requirements for receiving the estate, all assets then go to the state.

Land in California is precious. While disputes about where a property line falls can happen anywhere, these disputes may get particularly heated in California. This is especially true if your homes are close together.

Disputes may occur because one neighbor is looking to build an addition, a fence or replace an existing structure. Here is what you need to know about settling boundary line issues in California.

The will, sometimes called a last will and testament, remains the most common and recognizable tool that people in California and other states use to create their plan for asset distribution to their beneficiaries and for related purposes. However, living trusts have increasingly grown in popularity and are worth considering when one sits down with one's estate planning attorney to work out a plan. The revocable living trust is set up by the person called the grantor or settlor, and that person appoints a trustee to govern and administer the trust. In many instances, the settlor and the trustee are one in the same.

The revocable trust is a legal entity that owns assets during the settlor's lifetime. A will becomes effective only at the death of the maker and the assets in the maker's name do not go into the estate until the maker's death occurs. Because the trust owns the assets already, there is no need to probate the trust property at the settlor's death.