by Christine Brown | Sep 24, 2020 | Estate Planning
“How much do you tell your kids? When do you tell them? Is it possible to tell your kids too much, too soon? What happens if you tell them too little, too late?” These are common questions that come up when deciding whether to involve adult children in the...
by Christine Brown | Sep 18, 2020 | Estate Planning, Revocable Trust, Trusts
A revocable living trust protects your privacy, avoids probate, and determines who will handle your affairs while you’re incapacitated and after you’ve passed away. It’s an essential element for estate plans as it provides an extra layer of protection to your estate...
by Christine Brown | Sep 9, 2020 | Blended Families, Estate Planning, Trusts, Wills
Here’s a common horror story: a father remarries late in life to a woman with her own kids. The father does not create a Last Will and Testament. When the father dies, his estate goes entirely to his new wife since she is his next of kin according to the laws of...
by Christine Brown | Aug 28, 2020 | Estate Planning
Most people are familiar with the term “life estate” as a way to give someone “life rights” to a property. While a life estate does accomplish this goal, setting up a life estate in Los Angeles County is not a one-size-fits-all solution and may even cause serious...
by Christine Brown | Aug 27, 2020 | News and Announcements
August, 2020- Christine Brown of South Bay Elder Law has recently received the honor of being named a 2021 Los Angeles County Super Lawyer by Super Lawyer magazine. This is the fifth year that Brown, an estate and elder law attorney in the South Bay Area has received...
by Christine Brown | Aug 22, 2020 | Estate Planning, Trusts, Wills
As the coronavirus continues to impact life as we know it here in the United States, the most common question we’ve been asked during the course of the pandemic is “Should I update my estate plan in LA County because of COVID?” Of course, the answer to...
by Christine Brown | Aug 17, 2020 | Special Needs Planning, Special Needs Trusts
A Special Needs Trust (SNT) is a complex legal tool set up on behalf of a person with special needs or disabilities. The SNT allows a beneficiary with special needs to safely utilize money or property in the trust without jeopardizing the ability to collect...
by Christine Brown | Aug 10, 2020 | Probate
Los Angeles County probate lawyers hear quite regularly from heirs who are shocked to learn that the property they inherited from a loved one comes with a mortgage. Now what? It’s important to know that a mortgage does not die when the owner does. How that mortgage is...
by Christine Brown | Jul 31, 2020 | Probate
As we continue on in this time of social distancing and, in some communities, shelter-in-place, more and more people are faced with a difficult situation: handling out-of-state probate proceedings after the death of a loved one. Many seniors today are “snowbirds” who...
by Christine Brown | Jul 25, 2020 | Estate Planning, Probate
There are several strategies available that Long Beach estate planning lawyers use to help seniors and their families avoid lengthy and costly probate proceedings, including adding other people as joint owners on their accounts or making beneficiary designations on...
