Estate Planning Attorney Tag

How Becoming a Parent Should Change Your Estate Plan

You may already have an estate plan in place, which is a good way to show your mate you want to care for their future. However, having children should result in changes to your estate plan. Here are a few of the reasons.

• Preparing for the possible need for a legal guardian – When holding your newborn, you probably aren’t thinking about where they would be if you and your spouse were suddenly gone. However, every parent should prepare for legal guardianship of their child in the event of a tragedy.
• Set up a trust for dispensing inheritance – For everything from college tuition to buying a house for the first time to getting married, you want to set aside funds for the big events in your child’s life. A trust can allow you to set aside assets that your child will be able to use in the future, whether or not you are there to provide support in person.
• Increase your life insurance – When it was just you and your mate, you may not have felt the need to carry a large policy. However, if something happens to you now, you want to be sure to have a large enough life insurance policy to support a single parent. This may mean increasing your life insurance policy, especially if you provide the family’s main income.

California Estate Planning Attorneys

Petrov Law Firm can help you to update your existing estate plan or to develop a new one from scratch. Call our San Diego office at 619.344.0360 today to get started.

3 Steps You Can Take Today to Get Started with Estate Planning

Estate planning is something that always seems to get pushed off until tomorrow. However, you never know when tomorrow may be the day your family needs that estate plan in place. Therefore, we’ve come up with a list of three things you can do today to get your estate plan rolling.

#1 Take Inventory of Your Assets

Even if you don’t think there is enough to your estate to justify planning ahead, a tangible inventory will convince most people otherwise. Think about your home, property, vehicles, collectibles, and other personal possessions. Then add in bank accounts, investment or retirement accounts, and insurance policies. Do you own a business? You may realize you have a lot more to leave behind than you thought.

#2 Think of What Your Family Will Need

Are you the primary breadwinner in the household? Do you have minor children who will need a first car and tuition for college? How much does a proper funeral and burial cost in your area? Once you think about things your family will need when you are not there anymore, it becomes clear that you need to plan ahead and that there are specific events you should be planning for.

#3 Contact an Estate Planning Attorney in Your State

Estate planning law varies from state to state, so you need an attorney who is experienced in local law. In southern California, you can trust the experienced estate planning attorneys at Petrov Law Firm. Give us a call today at 619.344.0360 to schedule a consultation.

Ensuring Your Estate Transitions to Your Desired Beneficiaries

Estate planning plays a crucial role in making sure that your beneficiaries get the assets you wish to transfer to them when you pass on. There are two vital factors that play a role in making sure that your wishes are carried out.

1. Have an estate plan – You may assume that the state will distribute your assets to the family members you want them to go to, especially if you want to leave everything to a spouse or your children. However, things are not always so cut and dry, and without proper estate planning, your assets may be tied up in probate court for months or years, with much of the estate being drained in the process.
2. Review your plan annually – At least once per year, you want to review your plan to ensure that your current wishes are documented properly. This is also essential when you experience a change in life such as a birth in the family, death of a beneficiary, divorce, new assets, loss of an asset, marriage, moving to a new state, etc.

When you take the time to have a plan in place, this shows loving concern for those who will have to deal with the court system in order to receive their inheritance from you.

California Estate Planning Attorneys in San Diego

Since estate planning laws vary from state to state, you want a local attorney to help. Petrov Law Firm can help your family to be prepared for the future. Call 619.344.0360 to begin or revise your estate plan now.

Updates to Your Estate Plan When You Become a Parent

If you already have an estate plan in place before becoming a first-time parent, you are ahead of many other families. However, adding a family member is a major life change that requires an update to your estate plan. Especially when you become a first-time parent, whether the child is newborn or adopted, you need to think about the following scenarios:

• Planning ahead for legal guardianship – As long as your child is still a minor, you need to have plans in place for legal guardianship should an untimely accident befall you and your mate simultaneously.
• Setting up a trust – If something does happen to both parents of a child, just having a will is not sufficient. You want a trust in place that will protect the estate until your child reaches legal age. Be sure to choose a trustworthy successor trustee who will protect the estate for your child.
• Review life insurance policies – You may decide that you now need to carry more life insurance. This will ensure that your mate and child do not experience hardship if something should happen to you, especially if you are the family’s primary breadwinner.

Updating Your California Estate Plan

Any major change in life circumstances should result in a review of your estate plan. If you are now living in southern California, Petrov Law Firm can help you to update your plan in accord with state regulations. Give us a call today at 619.344.0360 to get started with an experienced estate planning attorney.

Don’t Make These Mistakes When It Comes to Your Estate Planning

When it comes to estate planning, there are many dos and don’ts. Here are three of the don’ts so that you can avoid the mistakes that people commonly make with this essential preparation.

• Mistake 1: Doing it yourself – Estate planning should not be a DIY project. Since the laws vary from state to state, you need an estate planning attorney in your state to help you draft documents accurately.
• Mistake 2: Delaying – People in their 20s, 30s, or even 40s will often put off estate planning. Unfortunately, we always think we have more time to make these vital decisions, but this is not always the case. Plan now for the unexpected, and don’t leave the future of your family up to chance.
• Mistake 3: Not doing it at all – Some people think that estate planning is unnecessary just because they don’t have a lot of money. That actually makes leaving things to your family the right way even more essential. You also can use estate planning to make medical decisions in advance and to appoint someone to handle financial or medical matters for you if you ever become incapacitated. Estate planning isn’t all about money.

Southern California’s Estate Planning Attorneys

When it comes to planning for your California estate, you want the professionals at Petrov Law Firm in your corner. Give us a call today at 619.344.0360 to learn more about what our estate planning attorneys can do to help you protect your family.

Medical Decisions Regarding End of Life

A patient has a great degree of latitude when it comes making end of life decisions. For example, you can choose whether or not the medical team will preserve your life using machines if your condition is fatal, irreversible, or if there is a medical degree of certainty that you will never regain consciousness. You also have decisions that involve weighing certain forms of treatment versus the risks and side effects.

The way that you make these decisions in advance is by executing an advance health care directive. In California, you can make medical decisions in advance by means of this document, and you can appoint a surrogate to give voice to your wishes if you are unconscious or otherwise incapacitated.

When you make these kinds of decisions in advance, it shows concern and love for your family, who would otherwise have to make these decisions without you and maybe amidst a great deal of disagreement. Executing an advance medical directive provides clear instructions, which benefits decision-makers and ensures that your personal wishes are carried out.

Preparing an Advance Medical Directive in California

Every state has its own laws regarding advance medical decisions, so you should enlist the help of an estate planning attorney to ensure your document is worded correctly. The estate planning attorneys at Petrov Law Firm can help you to execute an advance medical directive and other estate planning documents. Call our San Diego office today at 619-344-0360 to learn more.

Why a DIY Will Is Never the Right Estate Planning Option

There are a lot of things that can be fun to do yourself. In fact, many home projects can save you a ton of money if you learn to take care of them on your own without the help of a paid professional. However, when it comes to your estate planning, you don’t want to take any chances. Here are three reasons:

• Mistakes – Even if you go to a legal website that offers a form will and legal support, there are still mistakes that can easily be made. Whether it is something that is omitted that should have been in your will or perhaps wording that is not valid in California (since legal matters vary from state to state), you just want to be sure that your planning is valid.
• Dispute resolution – Don’t let your life’s work end up tied up in probate court for months or even years before your beneficiaries are left with what hasn’t been spent on court fees. The wording is key when it comes to estate planning. You want to be sure that things are ironclad, so no one can challenge your decisions.
• Confidence – Hiring an attorney can give you peace of mind because you won’t have to worry if your DIY will is good enough to get your wishes carried out.

Southern California’s Premier Estate Planning Attorneys

If you are ready to prepare your estate plan with confidence, then it is time to call the pros at Petrov Law Firm. Dial 619-344-0360 today to get the help you need in being prepared for the future.

How Estate Planning Can Protect Your Minor Children

We hope that your children get to enjoy your loving care for many years to come. But what if an unforeseen accident should occur in your life? You can use your estate planning to protect your minor children. There is no substitute for you, but there are ways to look after your kids, even if you pass away unexpectedly. Here are a few important tips:

• Appoint a legal guardian – The children need to have somewhere to go if left without parents. A good family friend whom the children like and that is up to the responsibility is important.
• Set up a trust fund – A trust fund can allow you to provide financially for your children. While the bulk of the funds may not become available until the children come of age, you can allow dispensations for certain events such as if your child graduates early and needs money for college before he or she turns 18.

Don’t Leave Your Child’s Future to Chance

Sure, it will be better if your estate planning doesn’t take effect for many years because you live to see your children grow up, get married, and have kids of their own. But you can’t leave things to chance. Planning ahead will protect your child in case you are tragically taken from their life by an accident or illness.

The compassionate estate planning attorneys at Petrov Law Firm will be happy to help walk you through the process of setting up an estate plan in California. To learn more, call our offices today at 619-344-0360.

Common Mistakes People Make When Estate Planning

When it comes to estate planning, there are some common mistakes that people make. Here are some of the big ones, and why you don’t want to make the same errors.

• Leaving it for later – An accident can happen to anyone. Don’t leave your legacy up to chance simply because you don’t like thinking about your own mortality.
• Never doing it – Some people have the mistaken impression that estate planning is only for people who have millions of dollars. Regardless of the size of your estate, you should be planning ahead for the future. Estate planning is about more than just money.
• Not planning for medical emergencies – Sure, you have plans for when you die, but what about if you live? Whether you are in a coma or are just temporarily incapacitated, you want a plan in place so that someone can look after your material possessions until you regain the ability to do so or you leave them to your beneficiaries. It is this in-between gap that many people fail to plan for.

Planning for Your Future the Smart Way

If you want to plan ahead for your future in southern California, then enlist the help of the qualified estate planning attorneys at Petrov Law Firm. We can help you to avoid the pitfalls of estate planning so that things go as you plan, even if you are not there to see the plan through yourself. To get started, call 619-344-360 and schedule a consultation today.

When You Have a Beneficiary with a Mental Illness

Mental illness is increasingly common in the world today. If a relative has an illness, it doesn’t make you love them any less or want to take care of them any less. Therefore, your estate plan needs to be able to help you provide the support you want your loved one to have while compensating for the fact that he or she may not be able to manage the money alone. Here are a few tips to help guide you.

• A loyal and compassionate trustee. By appointing the right trustee over any trust that you leave to your loved one, you can ensure that the funds will be used for your loved one at the right times and in the proper amount.
• Controlling what funds can be dispensed for. Perhaps your loved one doesn’t need someone to care for him or her, but is still concerned about things like impulse spending or squandering the inheritance in other ways? Structuring the inheritance so that funds are only released for certain types of expenses is a good way to protect your loved one.
• Covering voluntary treatment costs. You can structure the trust so that your loved one receives a dispensation when he or she seeks medical care relating to the condition. This may move your loved one to see the high value of proper treatment and may provide the funds necessary to get the right care without the guilt of how expensive medical treatment can be in the US.

Discretionary Trusts and Other Estate Planning Methods in California

At Petrov Law Firm in San Diego, our estate planning attorneys will be happy to help you plan for the future needs of your loved ones. To see what types of estate planning are best for your family, contact us today at 619-344-0360.