Estate planning involves a subset of property law, a notoriously arcane body of law that, in many ways, hasn’t changed for generations. As such, estate planners must be familiar with ancient concepts like escheatment (when a [...]
When Congress amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), as it did with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act last December, it does more than just change the text of current law. Because tax law is so [...]
Who is life insurance for? That is, who does it benefit? When asked that question, most people will likely say that it benefits your loved ones after you die. After all, the policy only pays out [...]
In March, I wrote a post about estate planning for small-business owners. That post discussed the different ways that you, as a small-business owner, might choose to dispose of your small business after your death. Whether [...]
What happens to your Facebook account when you die? What about any money you left in your iTunes account? Or the pictures and other files you stored in Dropbox? How about your extensive collection of virtual [...]
There’s been a lot of chatter in the news lately about the potential for the federal estate tax to be repealed. One argument often made in favor of repealing the estate tax is that it will [...]
Hi there, Bridget Mackay here. I'm an attorney in Petaluma, and I practice in the area of estate planning and elder law. Today I want to talk about what you should tell your children about your [...]
I’ve written about Medi-Cal estate recovery in the past, but today I’m going to talk about some big changes that became effective earlier this year. For Medi-Cal beneficiaries who die on or after January 1, 2017, [...]
Hi there, Bridget Mackay here. I'm an attorney in Petaluma, California, and I practice in the area of estate planning and elder law. Today on my video blog, I want to talk about appointing two trustees [...]
Last November, I wrote a post about what happens when someone dies without a will (or any other kind of estate plan) in California. In short, that person’s property will be distributed according to the rules [...]
