Question: What is going on with the legal system during this pandemic? I have heard that courts are closed except for emergencies. But what exactly does that mean? Answer: On April 6, the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court held an emergency meeting of the Judicial Council, the policymaking body of the California courts, [...]
Question: Years ago, my wife and I created a college savings account for our daughter. The account made some gains, and we accumulated a considerable amount of money over the years for her college tuition and expenses. We expected that the fund would run out of money over the course of four years of college, [...]
Question: I have heard that there are some changes in the laws with respect to individual retirement accounts that go into effect this new year. Can you describe them? And can you tell me how that will impact most of us? Answer: The new year always brings in changes. While most news has been focused [...]
Question: I own a rental property that used to be my personal residence years ago. Over the years, my wife and I have rented the house. It has been suggested that we create a limited liability company for the rental. Is this a good decision? And how would it affect our estate plan? We plan [...]
Question: My husband and I live in a quiet residential neighborhood in Davis. At least it used to be quiet. Our neighbor has remodeled his house to accommodate guests and now advertises his rooms on travel hosting websites. There are people coming and going at all hours of the night. Guests of his will frequently [...]
Question: My wife and I are longtime Davis residents. We have money in savings and retirement accounts, but our most valuable asset is our home. We want to leave our property to our two children equally. Our son lives on the east coast, and our daughter lives here. As part of our estate plan, we [...]
Question: My 80-year-old father had some seizures a few months ago. Doctors treated him at the hospital. Since then, he has had lapses in short-term memory. His long-term memory is still all right, but his retention of ordinary day-to-day matters is weak. He knows that he has lost some functionality, and he has become frustrated [...]
Question: I am trying to figure out the best way to leave money to my children without having to spend a lot of money on a lawyer. I have a pension that will stop when I die, a moderate retirement account, and some checking and savings accounts. I have two children, and I intend to [...]
Question: I own a small piece of vacation property up on the coast that I inherited a few years ago. My aunt lived there, and my wife and I stayed up there for a while until we permanently moved down to Davis. We have put the house up on rental websites like AirBnB, and we [...]
Question: My mother recently passed away, and she named me as the executor of her estate. In her will, she left behind some money for my two kids. She said that she wanted the gifts to be held in a custodial account with me as custodian. The remainder of her property, which wasn’t all that [...]