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LLCs and FLPs in the new year….
The government has come up with a “permanent” estate tax solution. Does that mean you can get rid of your family limited partnerships and LLCs? What about your irrevocable trusts? There are a lot of...
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We aren’t quite ready to finish….
“We aren’t quite ready to finish our estate plan yet….” “We are waiting to finish one other thing first….” “As soon as we finish our taxes we will get it done….” “We want to see how our son behaves the...
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Rental property gone BAD
The below are actual photos of a home we have in a probate case right now in the Sacramento probate Court. These are not doctored images. The problem here is the Executor of this probate estate died...
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Probate House Saga and Mystery – Read at your own risk!
My post the other day with the totally destroyed house here in Sacramento reminded me of another probate house from a few years ago. This one involved an incredible mystery which I will try to get to...
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John Palley quoted on Forbes.com
I was quoted in an article today on Forbes.com. The article is about doing business on the golf course. I don’t have time for golf anymore. The incident I am quoted for happened about 15 years ago....
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America’s Best Trust Companies
The 2013 report on America’s most advisor friendly trust companies was released last week. Here is a link to the full article. The article has a lot of informative information about working with a...
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Probate Process from Start to Finish for Paralegals
We are pleased to announce that John Palley, our lead probate attorney, has been chosen to be the lead speaker at the April 18th IPE seminar on the Probate Process from Start to Finish. The seminar...
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Estate Planning and Vacation Planning
I have been on vacation for the last two weeks. I thought about blogging almost every day but I never did it. However, I feel re-charged, re-energized and ready to WORK! I am ready to blog and ready to...
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Free Cemetery Burial in Sacramento
I know you don’t believe the headline but it’s TRUE. 100% true! One of newest and nicest cemeteries in the greater Sacramento valley area does not accept money. Free burial, headstone and even a 15...
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Probate Presentation to Realtors
Later today I am speaking to a group of Realtors at the Lyon Real Estate office in Folsom. I will be giving them a refresher course on transferring and selling real estate after death. Here’s my...
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Changing The Mortgage from deceased’s name
A huge problem we have encountered more and more lately is changing the mortgage from the deceased’s name into the family’s name. That is cases such as two I have right now where the property is in the...
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Step-up in basis – The Basics
A person asked me the other day to explain the step-up in basis rules. This can be very complicated so I will digest down to the very basic elements. Let’s say dad buys a house for $25,000 in 1966....
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What’s a pretermitted heir?
I came across an interesting case lately that I thought I would share. Though the information will be a public record, in Court, I have modified the names, dates and particulars for privacy purposes....
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Continuances in Probate Court
Why do you or your lawyer sometimes want or need a continuance in your probate Court? There are some cases where a continuance is needed. For example, I am appearing today, via CourtCall, in Los...
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Timeshares are liabilities that keep on going from generation to generation
Let me start by saying that I love timeshares. I enjoy staying at timeshares on vacations. You can meet many friendly people while BBQing your dinner, sitting by the pool, playing ping pong, or at some...
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Estate planning, trust and probate law crossover with divorce, custody and...
I was asked to speak today to the Sacramento County Bar probate and family law joint meeting. That is, the monthly meetings normally take place separately. One for the probate/estate planning attorneys...
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Estate Planning Documents Working Together
It’s been said many times that an estate plan is just that… a PLAN. Yes, it’s a group of form derived documents but, as I always say, it’s knowing WHICH FORMS to use. However, it’s more than that. One...
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More than estate planning
I recently saw a link to this New York Times article on volunteer travel. It’s not cheap to travel around the world and help people but, for people that can afford it, I can not imagine a better way to...
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How permanent are the 2013 estate tax laws?
If President Obama’s 2014 budget is any prediction of the future the 2013 “permanent” estate tax law changes are not very permanent. Or, put another way, only politicians would call them permanent! I...
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Probate process from start to finish
Today I will be speaking to a group of paralegals at the Sheraton in downtown Sacramento on the probate process from start to finish. Here is a summary of the outline. If you want my full outline just...
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