Welcome to JS Abrams Law, a law firm serving as a Riverside Wills and Trust attorney to you and your loved one. If you have a spouse or children, you need to think about protecting their future when you die. If you have a home, a business, bank accounts, retirement assets, or anything of financial or personal value – you need to think about who will have those assets when you die. Wills are legal documents that determine who controls your assets and who raises your minor children – after you die. Trusts are legal documents that are often used to help anyone with special needs, to fund a child’s or a relative’s education, to reduce estate taxes, or to help protect your assets from creditors. Trusts become active while you’re alive.
At JS Abrams Law, our Riverside wills and trusts lawyers advise seniors, parents, and anyone with valuable assets about which legal estate planning documents to create, what should be in those documents, and when those documents should be signed and executed. We often recommend both wills and trusts depending on your financial goals and the concerns you have for your loved ones. Don’t wait until you’re incapacitated. You certainly can’t wait until you’re on your deathbed. Our estate planning lawyers advise all Riverside residents of all ages and all income levels about their estate planning needs.
What reasons are there for preparing a will in Riverside?
With a will, you can:
- Choose which people receive your assets and in which proportions. You can give all your assets to your spouse and children. You can give them most of your assets but also save $10,000 (or any other sum) for a nonprofit or charity you like. You can give your assets to siblings, friends, and anyone you want. Many people make sure to state who gets your art collection or other treasured items. If you don’t have a will, your assets are distributed in accordance with the intestate laws of California. The intestate laws generally give all your assets to your closest relatives.
- Select an executor. The executor is the person you choose to identify your assets and debts, collect the assets, pay the debts and administrative expenses, and distribute what’s left to the heirs. The executor should be someone you trust to represent your interests, who is organized, and who can resolve conflicts or defend court actions. Most executors work with an experienced Riverside wills and trust lawyer.
- Choose a guardian to raise your children. If both parents die before their children turn 18, then someone needs to provide shelter, food, clothing, love, advice, and discipline for them. A will lets you choose a sibling, another relative, or a friend to be the children’s guardian.
- Decide what happens to your business. Wills determine who owns your business interests. If you have a sole proprietorship, you can pick the person (such as a daughter or son) to continue your restaurant, tech company, or other enterprise. If you have a partnership, your partnership agreement normally determines the business succession of your business. Stocks can be transferred to whomever you choose. A will lets you decide if you want to sell the business or have someone run the business. Wills can address many other business succession details such as the value of the business.
We recommend you consider your wills whenever there’s a new member of the family such as a grandchild or son-in-law, you divorce, you acquire new assets, or a year or more has lapsed since you last your will
What does a trust do?
Our Riverside trust lawyers explain how a trust works and the different uses for trusts. Trusts have several key parts:
- The person who creates the trust transfers some of his property (real or personal) to the trust
- A trustee is appointed to manage the trust
- Beneficiaries are named to receive the benefits of the trust – normally the income and, if necessary, some of the principal
- An end date of the trust and a statement as to what happens to the property when the trust ends
We advise the creator of the trust, the trustee, and the beneficiary of the trust – depending on which client we represent.
What are the different types of Riverside trusts?
Trusts are used for many purposes including the following:
- To provide for minors. This type of trust is usually for the benefit of minors or someone in college to ensure they have the funds for their education. Trusts for minors may be used for other purposes such as providing for their health or shelter.
- Special needs trusts. If you have a child (adult or a minor) or know someone in need, you can use this trust to ensure that they won’t be disqualified from government benefit programs because of their income level.
- Lifetime trusts. You may want to consider, for example, creating a lifetime trust for your spouse if she/he outlives you. The trust income is used for her/his needs. When your spouse dies, the trust assets are distributed to someone you choose such as your children.
- Pour-over trusts. Riverside spouses often use this type of trust along with their will. The idea is that when the first spouse dies, their assets pour-over into the trust so the assets don’t need to pass through probate. Pour-over trusts can save money, reduce estate taxes, and save a lot of time processing the assets through probate.
Other kinds of trusts are used to ensure medical bills are covered for a beneficiary (personal injury trusts and healthcare trusts), to prevent creditors from attaching the assets of the property you place in trust (spendthrift trusts), and for many other purposes.
At JS Abrams Law, our Riverside wills and trust lawyers advise seniors, parents, and people of all ages about their estate planning and elder care needs. We review your financial, health, and personal situation and your goals. We advise you about the benefits of all types of estate planning documents including wills, trusts, powers of attorney, health directives, and other legal documents, When you want to secure your family’s future and others you care about, call our seasoned California wills and trust lawyers at 818-330-4515 or fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment.
