Helping Families since 1998.
Many people believe that estate planning is only for people who are particularly wealthy, have elaborate schemes in mind for passing their money to their heirs, or for people who are acutely ill and contemplating their death. This could not be farther from the truth!
Estate planning is for every husband, wife, mother, father, grandparent, business owner, professional, or anyone else who has someone they care about, are concerned about providing responsibly for their own well being and for the well being of those they love, and for anyone who seeks to make a difference in the lives of others after they're gone. Estate planning is not 'death planning'; it's 'life planning', and an essential and rewarding process for individuals and families who engage in it.
When done properly, estate planning requires that a highly trained individual lead you through one or more in-depth meetings to uncover your hopes, fears, and expectations for yourself and for those who are most important to you. This process almost always requires the preparation of several sophisticated legal documents, but those documents themselves are not 'estate planning.' Planning is a process, represented by a complete strategy that is properly documented and maintained by a professional who has taken the time to get to know you, and who is committed to continuing to serve you.
Persons who fail to plan during their lives and die without creating a will 'die intestate'. Each state has laws that dictate how an intestate person's property will be distributed leaving you with absolutely no control. Property may go to people you don't want and in ways that you never intended. Dying intestate means no tax planning was done on your behalf.
Contact
➤ LOCATION
5200 Warner Ave.
Suite 205/206
Huntington Beach, CA 92649
☎ CONTACT
cskerik@skeriklaw.com
714-840-0426
Areas of Practice
Estate planning
Your estate plan is a snapshot of you, your family, your assets and the tax laws in effect at the time it was created. All of these change over time, and so should your plan. It is unreasonable to expect the simple will written when you were a newlywed to be effective now that you have a growing family, or now that you are divorced from your spouse, or now that you are retired and have an ever increasing swarm of grandchildren! Over the course of your lifetime, your estate plan will need check-ups, maintenance, tweaking, maybe even replacing. So, how do you know when it's time to give your estate plan a check-up?
Generally, any change in your personal, family, financial or health situation, or a change in the tax laws, could prompt a change in your estate plan.
Trust Administration
If estate planning is the process of designing a playbook, estate and trust administration occurs when the playbook is put into action. The process begins with an event that triggers a provision in your estate plan, such as incapacity or death. The plan becomes 'executory', meaning that the individuals you designated in your plan documents must step into action and execute according to your instructions.
Estate and trust administration can be complex and the people you have designated must have competent and experienced counsel to guide them through the process. They must make important decisions ' sometimes quickly ' and they need help to make them wisely. They may need to prepare inventories of your property, prepare tax returns, or sign other important documents on your behalf. Ultimately they must divide and distribute your property to those individuals or charities you identified in your will or trust agreement.
The estate and trust administration process carries a lot of responsibilities. We can help guide your loved ones through the process as sensitively and completely as possible, and will try to make it as straightforward and efficient as possible.
Probate
Probate is a court-supervised process for distributing the individually owned assets of a deceased person. Assets are distributed to beneficiaries in accordance to the instructions written in the person's will.
Estate Taxation
Estate Taxation has changed considerably in the last few years, and remains in flux. Many people have older plans that may or may not be appropriate for todays higher exemptions. For many people, estate tax planning may no longer be the main focus, but rather, income and capital gains tax planning may be of more importance.
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