What is a Power of Attorney?

February 20, 2023By Douglas Venturelli, Esq.

We often get questions about what to do when a person wants to give up their authority over their personal and financial life. If they do not already have a Revocable Living Trust that provides for a transfer of that authority, then the next best thing is a Power of Attorney (POA). The person who Read the full article…

What is a SLAT?

August 31, 2022By Douglas Venturelli, Esq.

A Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT) is a trust established between spouses. Essentially, one spouse gives the other spouse assets in an amount that uses up the unused Federal Estate Tax Exemption. The trust of one spouse must be materially different from the trust of the other spouse. The reciprocal trust doctrine allows the IRS Read the full article…

Common Ways to Hold Title in California

August 16, 2022By Richard Umanoff

We often get questions from clients on how to hold title to property they are about to purchase. As real estate might be the most important asset that an individual or couple may own, how ownership is vested is extremely important. Proper titling will affect the current and future rights of parties to the transaction, Read the full article…

How to Treat Inherited Individual Retirement Accounts

May 24, 2022By Kimberly Hoang

The SECURE Act, which became effective on January 1, 2021, changed the rules for inherited IRAs. Prior to that, the rules were very beneficial to non-spousal beneficiaries. The act upended the “life expectancy” rule for distributions and, in its place, created the 10-year rule for non-spousal beneficiaries. The act establishes a time period of 10 Read the full article…

Advantages of Trusts for Estate Planning

December 20, 2021By Richard Umanoff

In the first article in this series, we covered what a trust is and the type of assets you may transfer to a trust. As a reminder, a trust is a legal agreement between two parties: the trustee and the trustor (sometimes called the settlor or grantor). The trustor is the person who establishes the Read the full article…

What is a Trust?

November 4, 2021By Richard Umanoff

In this first article in our upcoming series, we will discuss a trust and the type of assets you may transfer to a trust. Please stay tuned for more related articles coming soon and reach out to our team if you have any questions about estate and trust.  A trust is a legal agreement between Read the full article…