for complex tax liability problems or business management succession. 

 

Set forth below are examples of what an estate plan can accomplish:

 

• Specify who will receive your property on your death (if you don’t specify this, the laws of California will do it);

• Name an executor for your estate (the person who oversees the administration of a probate estate);

• Name the trustee for your trust (if applicable);

• Establish trusts for a spouse or minor children (minors cannot manage property themselves);

• Preserve your share of your assets for your children or other beneficiaries (for example, if your spouse survives you and remarries after your death, your estate plan can prevent your share of the estate from passing to your spouse’s new spouse);

• Help minimize death and other transfer taxes;

• Provide some creditor protection for your children following your death;

• Provide for the management of your assets if you become incapacitated and can no longer manage them;

• Designate who will receive your life insurance proceeds, retirement plan benefits, IRAs, or annuities on your death (those types of assets usually will not pass under your will); and

• Provide a vehicle for making lifetime gifts to your children through use of trusts or custodianship gifts.