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While no one likes to imagine being incapacitated in a hospital, it is naturally on many of our minds recently with the COVID-19 pandemic. The novel coronavirus is resulting in thousands of people across the United States in intensive care, often unconscious for extended time periods. If you are incapacitated in the hospital - for any reason - who will make medical decisions for you? While medical professionals regularly make choices on behalf of patients who are incapacitated, their decisions are not always in line with your values and wishes. In addition, having someone to advocate for you is important to make sure that you receive the care you need. You can set out your wishes and designate someone to be your advocate by drafting a document called an advanced…

Once you take the time to create your estate plan, you might think that your job is done. However, as our circumstances change during life, an estate plan might no longer be up to date. An outdated estate plan will not properly protect you, your family, or your property, so it is important that you revisit your plan with a Santa Ana estate planning lawyer on a regular basis or following life events. The following are only some examples of events that might require an update to your estate plan. Getting Married or Divorced When you get married, your spouse automatically gets some inheritance rights under California law. However, their inheritance under the law might not match up with your wishes. For example, if you want your spouse to inherit all of…

On January 1, 2020, a federal law went into effect that can have a significant impact on your estate planning regarding retirement accounts. The law, called the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act), changes the guidelines for the payout of retirement savings to beneficiaries after the account holder passes away. Prior to this year, beneficiaries could generally receive distributions over time through their life expectancy. This allowed them to earn tax-deferred returns on the investments. The SECURE Act now limits a beneficiary’s ability to stretch out payments for certain beneficiaries. The tax implications will now be different for these beneficiaries, so it is important to discuss this with your estate planning lawyer to adapt your estate plan if needed to protect the interests of your beneficiaries. Accelerated Payout Timelines…

Just like each person’s estate will be unique, so will be the legal process of distributing and closing their estate, which is called probate. Probate has many specific procedures under California law, and the courts are often backed up. For this reason, probate can take longer than you might expect in the Santa Ana area. There is no way to estimate how long probate might take in your case without first evaluating your specific situation. However, the following is an overview of the probate timeline in California courts. Minimum Timeline In general, a probate case must take the following procedural path: An attorney files pleadings and the will with the proper court A hearing date is set for six to 12 weeks later There is a four-month period in which creditors can make…

The last thing you might expect is for your death to result in conflict among your loved ones. However, inheritance disputes are more common than you might imagine. This is true whether there is significant wealth involved or very little, and even the most straightforward family units can disagree when it comes to inheritances. There are many different reasons why someone might question their inheritance as set out in their relative's will. For example: Beneficiaries might feel the will does not accurately reflect what their loved one would have intended Beneficiaries believe that there is inequity in the bequests based on their sacrifices for their loved one, family members borrowing money from the loved one, or other circumstances unique to the family. Beneficiaries suspect elder abuse or other wrongdoing on…