Practical guidance on estate planning, trusts, probate, bankruptcy, and asset protection in California. Published by Maria V. Primushko, Esq.
A calm, step-by-step guide to protecting your health, your rights, and your injury claim in the first days after a crash.
Most injury victims have two years to file, but some deadlines are far shorter. Learn the rules and the exceptions before time runs out.
You came to California and built a business and a life. A living trust protects what you earned, keeps it private, and passes it to the people you choose.
California statutory fees, timelines, and the hidden costs of dying without a trust, with a real cost breakdown for a typical Los Angeles estate.
Online templates are cheap because they are built for the simplest case. Here is what you are really paying for with a properly funded living trust.
Unmarried parents do not get the legal defaults marriage provides. How a living trust protects your children and lets your partner stay in the home.
Planning to marry in California? How to protect the home, savings, and business you built before the relationship, and why the timing matters.
California probate is a public court process. What becomes public record, who can see and contest it, and how a living trust keeps your estate private.
They are the same thing in California, but the terminology confusion hides a more important question. Here is what actually matters when choosing between revocable and irrevocable.
Full probate, public records, 12 to 18 months, and $46,000 in statutory fees on a $1 million estate. The complete cost of skipping the trust.
Durable POA, advance healthcare directive, and HIPAA authorization. Without them, your family ends up in conservatorship court.
The PC 16061.7 beneficiary notice has a 60-day deadline. Here is the day-by-day checklist most new trustees wish someone had handed them.
Parental authority ends at midnight on the 18th birthday. The 6-month filing window for limited conservatorship is the cliff most families do not see coming.
One is initiated by the county. The other by anyone. One is for grave mental disability. The other for dementia or developmental conditions. Filing the wrong type costs months.
Standard conservatorship takes 60 to 90 days. The ex parte emergency petition under PC 2250 gets you legal authority in days when the crisis cannot wait.
Five less-restrictive alternatives, the 60-year window, and why AB 1663 supported decision-making changed the playing field in 2023.
The BAPCPA means test, the California median income comparison, and the disposable income test. A step-by-step walkthrough.
Lack of capacity, undue influence, fraud, improper execution, and revocation. The 120-day deadline under PC 8270 you cannot miss.
QTIP trusts, separate vs. community property, and how to ensure every family member is protected in your estate plan.
Probate fees, court costs, family disputes, and lost privacy. Real dollar examples for a $1M estate in California.
Comparing pooled trust structures with individual SNTs. Cost, flexibility, and when to use each option.
The automatic stay, your FDCPA rights, and how Chapter 7 discharge can end collection calls for good.
Cryptocurrency, social media accounts, and California's RUFADAA. How to include digital assets in your trust.
Eligibility rules, look-back periods, irrevocable trusts for Medi-Cal, and spousal protections in California.
Trustee duties, notification requirements under Probate Code 16061.7, asset inventory, and distribution timelines.
Asset protection, estate tax reduction, Medi-Cal planning, and when irrevocable is better than revocable.
Legal vs. physical custody, nomination strategies, backup guardians, and avoiding family disputes in California.
Buy-sell agreements, LLC structuring, key person insurance, and irrevocable life insurance trusts for entrepreneurs.
Advance directives, POLST forms, agent selection, HIPAA authorization, and California's legal requirements.
The 2021 expansion, current LA County limits, automatic vs. declared exemptions, and what homestead protects.
First-party vs. third-party SNTs, pooled trusts, ABLE accounts, and preserving SSI and Medi-Cal benefits.
LLCs, irrevocable trusts, homestead exemptions, and the three-layer asset protection strategy.
When conservatorship is needed, the petition process, court investigations, and alternatives to consider first.
Intestate succession rules, community vs. separate property, and why unmarried partners get nothing.
Eligibility, the means test, discharge timelines, property protection, and California-specific exemptions.
Probate costs 4 to 8% of your estate and takes 12 to 18 months. Here are the strategies to avoid it entirely.
Living trust, pour-over will, power of attorney, healthcare directive, and HIPAA authorization explained.
Understanding revocable living trusts, how they avoid probate, and whether your California family needs one.