Practice Areas

Comprehensive estate planning covers nearly every aspect of life. It begins with protecting yourself and your personal dignity, and extends to protecting your loved ones and your hard-earned assets.

Follow the links below to learn more about our Fundamental Estate Planning, Medi-Cal, Long Term Care, Asset Protection, Probate & Estate Administration, Business Succession Planning, Estate Tax Planning, Charitable Planning and Special Needs Planning services provided at the Law Offices Of R. Christine Brown:

Fundamental Estate Planning

There are many legal strategies involved in estate planning, including wills, revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, durable powers of attorney, and health care documents.
Learn more about the Estate Planning process.

Medi-Cal

In California Medi-Cal (known as Medicaid in all other states), is a joint federal-state program, subject to certain federal requirements, as well as California’s own regulations regarding how the program is managed. Medi-Cal is not an entitlement program like Medicare, but rather a needs based program (i.e., the applicant must have “limited resources and income”).
Learn more about Medi-Cal.

Long Term Care

Elder law is another aspect of estate planning, focusing primarily on the needs of families and individuals as they age. Issues of aging include senior housing and home care, long-term (or nursing home) care, guardianships and health care documents, Medicare and Medicaid.
Learn more about planning for Long-Term Care.

Conservatorships & Guardianships

You may be faced with a family member or a loved one who has become incapacitated or incompetent. If no estate planning documents are currently in place, the only legal recourse may be to seek the appointment of a conservator (of the person and/or the estate) through the probate court.
Find out how we can help with Conservatorships & Guardianships.

Probate & Estate Administration

Probate and estate administration are the processes through which estate assets are transferred after death. Assets to be transferred under terms of a will go through probate. Assets transferred outside of a will, such as by operation of law, or those planned for in a trust are handled through an Administration process. Administration also refers to the process whereby assets are transferred by rules of the state when there is no will. We can help make the process easier, more efficient, and provide peace of mind during a difficult time.
Learn more about Probate and Estate & Trust Administration.

Business Succession

Family businesses are the backbone of the American economy. From agriculture to services, technology and manufacturing, family businesses generate an estimated one-half of the U.S. Gross National Product and pay half of all wages earned in this country.
Find out how we can help you preserve your family business.

Estate Tax Planning

Historically speaking, the federal estate tax is an excise tax levied on the transfer of a person’s assets after death. In actuality, it is neither a death tax nor an inheritance tax, but more accurately a transfer tax. There are three distinct aspects to federal estate taxes that comprise what is called the Unified Transfer Tax: Estate Taxes, Gift Taxes, and Generation- Skipping Transfer Taxes. Legal planning to avoid or minimize federal estate taxes is both a prudent and an important aspect of comprehensive estate planning.
Learn more about Estate Tax Planning.

Charitable Planning

We encourage and assist the tradition of giving to charitable causes, including the employment of tax-advantaged strategies that maximize the value of your gift. We help clients make charitable gifts and practice good stewardship in the most tax-efficient manner.
Learn more about Charitable Giving Strategies.

Special Needs Planning

Special Needs Estate Planning focuses on providing for the special needs of our loved ones with disabilities when we are no longer there to organize and advocate on their behalf. Parents of children with special needs must make careful estate planning choices to coordinate all of the legal, financial, and special care needs of their children – both now and in the future.
Learn more about California Special Needs.