As loved ones age, families face important questions about healthcare and daily care needs. Long-term care planning helps address these concerns before a crisis occurs. In many cases, Medi-Cal plays a key role in covering these services. Understanding this connection...
When you’ve spent your lifetime building wealth through hard work, smart investments and careful financial decisions, you hate to think that all those assets will be gone within a generation or two. Unfortunately, preserving that wealth for future generations can be...
Generally speaking, a life insurance policy is not going to count when considering the assets a person owns and determining what they owe for estate taxes. This is because, although the policy was purchased by that individual, the funds from the payout are not...
Business succession plans can help to ease the transition phase when someone must suddenly take over a role within a company. Succession plans identify job responsibilities not covered in training materials and outline the unique functions a professional performs, as...
When you are making a business succession plan, if your goal is to keep the business in the family, you may assume that all family members need to be equally involved. If you have multiple adult children, you may be trying to fit them all in as members of the board or...
Large inheritances can often bring long-standing family tensions to the surface, especially when expectations about fairness and entitlement do not align with the final result. For high-net-worth families, estate planning decisions are rarely just about money....
Mediation gives you an opportunity to resolve a dispute without the cost, stress and uncertainty of going to trial. Whether the disagreement involves a business matter, property issue or family conflict, the way you negotiate during mediation can strongly affect the...
A dementia diagnosis can create fear for your family. You may suddenly realize your parent never updated a trust, signed a power of attorney or created health care directives. In many families, the first question becomes: “Is it already too late?” In California, a...
If you live in California, you may have heard people use the terms "Medicaid" and "Medi-Cal" interchangeably. It may sound confusing, especially if you are exploring healthcare options. But are these two different programs? Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid...
You are not obligated to divide your estate equally between your heirs -- even if they might expect you to do so. You should, however, consider explaining to your heirs what you intend to do when you decide to leave unequal inheritances. Leaving your decisions...