Meinzer Law Firm, PC

You should hire us because we will help you with care and compassion, providing information and advice in a plain and easy-to-understand way. We provide relief to families, to people who are worried about what will happen to their assets after their death, what will happen to them if they can’t take of themselves in the future for some reason, how to carry out the final affairs of a loved one who passed away, or how to care for someone else who cannot take of himself or herself anymore. For more information see our Google reviews, our “Introduction to Meinzer Law Firm, P.C.” video, and other videos at https://www.meinzerlawoffice.com/videos .

Yes, your trust most likely will help you control the assets of you and your husband and pay all of the bills if he cannot take part in those activities anymore due to his stroke. A financial management power of attorney signed by him also would help with that. Doctors normally receive instructions from the spouse or other close family members unless the decision requires surgery or different family members are providing conflicting directions to the doctor. In those situations, a power of attorney for health care should help. For more information see our “Carrying Out an Estate Plan” video, our “Estate Planning 5 (Trust and Powers of Attorney)” video, and other videos at https://www.meinzerlawoffice.com/videos . Thank you for reading my answer! Andrew Meinzer.

We help people all across California with planning for, and handling, the legal issues surrounding death and inability to take care of oneself. These things are called Estate Planning, Trust Administration, Wills, Probate, Decedents’ Estates, Conservatorships, Medi-Cal Planning, and Elder Law. That’s all we do, and we enjoy helping people with these types of things! For more information see our Google reviews, our “Introduction to Meinzer Law Firm, P.C.” video, and other videos at https://www.meinzerlawoffice.com/videos . Thank you, Andrew Meinzer.

First I will answer how a will and a trust are the same, which is that they both specify who will receive your assets after your death. Otherwise, that would be determined by California law. There are two primary differences between them: 1. Having a will does not avoid a probate decedent’s estate court proceeding after your death, and a properly-funded trust does avoid that. 2. A will primarily only specifies who receives your assets (and who is in charge to carry that out) after your death, while a properly-funded trust also allows that person to be in charge to manage your assets for your benefit if you cannot do that for yourself anymore in the future because you are in a coma, have dementia, etc. A properly-funded trust can avoid a conservatorship court proceeding in that situation while a will does not. See our “Estate Planning 2 (Will)” video, our “Estate Planning 3 (Trust)” video, and other videos at https://www.meinzerlawoffice.com/videos . Thank you, Andrew Meinzer.

You may need a California conservatorship court proceeding if your grandma can’t make her own decisions any more due to dementia and if she doesn’t have a trust and/or powers of attorney for financial management or health care. If she has those documents (even if they may have a slightly different title), then you may be able to manage your grandma’s assets, pay her bills, and make her health and personal care decisions for her without any court involvement. For more information see our “Carrying Out an Estate Plan” video, our “Basic Conservatorship” video, and other videos on our website at https://www.meinzerlawoffice.com/videos . Thank you for reading my answer! Andrew Meinzer.

I graduated from Southwestern Law School and passed the California bar exam in 1999. Since 2002 I have been helping people all across California with planning for, and handling, the legal issues surrounding death and inability to take care of oneself. These things are called Estate Planning, Trust Administration, Wills, Probate, Decedents’ Estates, Conservatorships, Medi-Cal Planning, and Elder Law. See our Google reviews, our “Introduction to Meinzer Law Firm, P.C.” video, and other videos at https://www.meinzerlawoffice.com/videos . Thank you for reading my answer! Andrew Meinzer.

Yes, we recommend that you have a trust if you live in California even if you own only your home and a small amount of funds in a bank account. A trust helps primarily with two things: 1. It makes sure that your house and bank account go to the people you want to receive them when you die and without a probate decedent’s estate court proceeding. 2. A properly-funded trust also helps make sure that someone you trust and select can make your financial decisions for you if you cannot do that for yourself anymore in the future because you are in a coma, have dementia, etc.; otherwise, a conservatorship court proceeding may be required for you. Probate decedent’s estate court proceedings and conservatorship court proceedings are a lot of work, time-consuming, slow to proceed, and expensive. We prefer to avoid that for you. For more information see our “Basic Estate Planning” video and other videos at https://www.meinzerlawoffice.com/videos . Thanks for your question! Andrew Meinzer.

A California probate decedent’s estate court proceeding normally lasts 12 to 18 months. It can take as little as nine months. It could take longer than 18 months, especially if a house needs to be sold, etc. I tell clients to plan for approximately 18 months, and we try to finish in less time than that. See our “Basic Probate Decedent’s Estate” video and other videos on our website at https://www.meinzerlawoffice.com/videos .

Yes, I do recommend that you hire an attorney if you now are the trustee of the trust created by your parents. (The trustee is the person in charge of carrying out the terms of the trust.) California law requires that you provide certain very specific notices to relatives or other people involved with the trust, and there are a handful of other documents that we process for our clients to make sure that everything is done correctly. The amount of work, the amount of time to complete, and the fees normally are dramatically less than they would have been without the trust. And doing everything correctly protects you from potential liability if you make a mistake. For more information see our “Carrying Out an Estate Plan” video and other videos at https://www.meinzerlawoffice.com/videos . Thank you for your question! Andrew Meinzer.