Estate Planning and Probate Guidance for Gonzales, California

Identify the decision you need to make

Estate planning can coordinate wills, trusts, financial authority and health-care decisions. If you are planning while alive, consider which decisions and instructions you want addressed. If someone has died, the applicable documents and ownership of the assets help determine whether trust administration or formal probate may be relevant.

These are different points in the decision process, not a checklist every person or family must complete. Start with the immediate question, then focus on the documents, assets and responsibilities connected to it.

• Planning ahead: Which financial or health-care decisions do you want addressed?
• After a death: What documents apply, and how are the relevant assets owned?

Planning while you are alive

Consider the purpose of each planning topic rather than assuming that every available document fits your circumstances. Health-care decision-making, financial authority and instructions for assets after death raise different questions, although estate planning may coordinate these areas.

For example, if your main concern is health-care decisions, that may be the clearest topic to raise first. If your concern is who may handle financial matters, focus the discussion there. If you want to address what happens to assets after death, consider the role of wills and trusts in your overall plan.

• Health-care planning: Advance Healthcare Directives and Living Wills; Healthcare Power of Attorney.
• Financial authority: Financial Power of Attorney.
• Instructions for assets and future arrangements: Wills; Pour-Over Wills; Revocable Living Trusts; Irrevocable Trusts; Asset Protection Trusts; Charitable Trusts; Pet Trusts; Special Needs Trusts; Gift Tax Planning; Business Succession Planning.

After a death: focus on documents and ownership

The existence of a will or trust, by itself, does not settle which process may apply. Trust administration and formal probate depend on the documents and how the assets are owned. Reviewing those details together can help frame the next question; a trust alone does not guarantee that formal probate will be avoided.

For a matter after a death, the topics that may be relevant include Trust Administration, Probate Administration, Ancillary Probate, and Executor and Trustee Services. Which topic to discuss depends on the particular documents and assets, rather than on a general assumption that one process fits every estate.

Prepare for a focused conversation

Optionally gather the wills, trusts or other planning documents available to you, along with information about the assets you are concerned about and how they are owned. For planning during life, you might also note the decisions or instructions you want to discuss. After a death, you might write down the questions you have about which documents apply and who, if anyone, has authority. These are preparation suggestions, not legal requirements.

Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. serves Gonzales clients virtually from its statewide California practice and has one in-person office at 802 Grant Ave, Novato, California.