A carefully structured and implemented estate plan that addresses your unique personal and financial circumstances protects you and your assets, provides for your loved ones after you pass away, preserves your financial legacy, and addresses potential unpredictable events in the future. An estate plan crafted with professional assistance can also minimize tax exposure, avoid unnecessary estate expenses and time delays due to probate requirements, and ensure distribution of assets to your beneficiaries efficiently and expeditiously.
If you do not have an estate plan, California state law makes all your decisions for you, determining who gets your property after death, who administers your estate, and who makes decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated due to a medical issue, injury, accident, or another reason. The state’s statutory rules on all those issues may not coincide with your wishes and do not provide an opportunity to preserve and protect assets, avoid probate, save administration expenses, distribute assets expeditiously, or take your own needs and goals into account.
With the availability of forms and online services, many people believe they can create an estate plan without a lawyer's help. While the self-help, DIY approach may work for certain tasks, estate planning is not one of them. Creating an estate plan without professional assistance is a significant mistake with serious risks.
Here are some reasons why:
Mistakes in a DIY estate plan often go unnoticed until it’s too late to fix them, potentially resulting in costly and devastating consequences for you and your loved ones. Most people would agree that it is unwise to shop around for the cheapest medical care. A DIY estate plan can be equally as disastrous.
As a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law, Jed Hazeltine applies his comprehensive knowledge and skill to explain trust options and tools available to you that will address your needs. He will also explain possible wealth transfer techniques that may be an option for you. Jed will guide you through the estate planning process so that you make fully informed decisions and determine the best choices to accomplish your estate planning goals, while taking into account the benefits, limitations, and consequences of each available option and strategy.
Most California estate plans include a trust because of the unique benefits and flexibility they offer in property distribution. However, there are various types of trusts, and the best option for you depends on your personal and financial circumstances, as well as your wishes and goals.
In your estate plan, you designate fiduciaries for significant roles in implementation of your plan. You choose an executor for the estate, a trustee to manage and administer the trust, and agents under a power of attorney and advance directive to make financial, personal, and medical care decisions on your behalf. Fiduciary selection is critically important for all roles in your estate, including the trustee or successor trustee for a trust.
During the estate planning process, Jed Hazeltine provides expert guidance in selecting the most suitable fiduciaries who can fulfill their duties and be trusted to follow your wishes meticulously. With over 20 years of legal experience and having held an attorney fiduciary license for that entire time, Jed stands out as one of the few attorney fiduciaries in the area. His specialized training and extensive expertise make him exceptionally qualified to serve as the successor trustee for an inter vivos (living) trust. Whether your estate is straightforward or complex, Jed's comprehensive knowledge and dedication ensure that your estate plan is in capable hands, providing you with confidence and peace of mind.
The personal representative of an estate and the trustee for a trust have fiduciary duties under state and federal law. These responsibilities are the highest level of duty provided by law. Personal liability may result if a trustee or personal representative does not properly carry out probate or trust administration. Every non-professional trustee and personal representative should retain a probate and trust administration lawyer to assist in carrying out their legal duties.
As fiduciaries, trustees and personal representatives of estates are held to the highest legal standards in performing their duties. A breach of fiduciary duty or other inappropriate conduct may result in trust or estate litigation against the fiduciary. At the same time, conflicts among beneficiaries or between a trustee and the beneficiaries may lead a trustee to seek court resolution of legal issues relating to a trust or estate. The practice at Trusts and Estates Groups includes representing trustees, personal representatives, and beneficiaries in trust and estate litigation.
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