Should I Help my Child Buy a House?

Often, young people and couples are turning to parents for assistance in making that home purchase. From an estate planning perspective, the devil is in the details; the success of the transaction will lie in making the proper choices given the facts.… Read More

How Can I Get a Copy of My Trust?

Your father, as a settlor and trustee, has a right to a copy of the trust that he and your mother hired the attorney to draft, assuming the attorney still retains a copy in the file. The request does not have to be notarized; in fact, he should simply be able to pick up the phone and call.… Read More

Trust accounting and probate accounting.

An accounting is a formal declaration of the trust (or estate, if it’s a probate accounting) assets and liabilities, including income and expenses, of a particular period of time.  California probate code section 1601 et seq. tells us exactly what an accounting needs to contain.  If it does not contain these items, an objection can be… Read More

How much should I be compensated as trustee?

Typically, a trust won’t specify how much a trustee should be paid for their effort. And yet, unless wavied by settlor, or specifically established by settlor, successor trustee’s have a right to ‘reasonable compensation’. What is reasonable?… Read More