Private Briefing

With the rise of the various "Occupy" protest movements, I have had several parents inquire whether it is possible to include provisions in a trust instrument that cut off distributions from the trust if the beneficiary becomes involved in a similar protest movement in the future.

There is plenty of buzz about President Obama's recent recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board and whether he had the legal power to make them.

Well, 2012 is here and that means it's time for new laws to take effect. In this post, I'll give you a quick rundown of the new laws affecting Californians in 2012. Unless you are gay, very young or packing heat, there likely isn't much for you in this year's crop of new laws...

The folks at Forbes just posted an article listing 12 Financial Resolutions for 2012. All 12 resolutions are good advice, but Number 2 is my favorite: "plan your estate."

This is the time of year when we all stop and reflect on the things we are thankful for. It has been a tradition for me to thank the people who are a part of my business life. To my clients, I am grateful that you have trusted me with your most important matters - your family and your dreams. I am grateful that your trust in me and my law firm has helped me provide for my family. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

It's the question I get asked more than any other - how much should an estate plan cost? In this post, I'll do my best to answer that question...

Medi-Cal qualification will be easier in 2012 for married couples as a result of new numbers released this week.

On a listserve I belong to, someone asked whether it made sense to have a corporation own the life insurance policies used to fund the business buy-sell agreement.

It seems that there are plenty of non-lawyers running around trying to convince people that they can get by with a slip-shod NFA gun trust. These folks are everywhere. They're on bulletin boards, behind gun shop counters, at shooting ranges. I think I even saw one in my back yard wearing a ghillie suit. (But I can't be sure.)

You know the old warning - don't talk about religion and politics. That's generally good advice for sociable conversation, but I constantly find that I have to break that rule with clients. I'll explain why...