There are three core documents to a good estate plan:  a revocable living trust or, in very limited circumstances, a will; a durable power of attorney; and an advance health care directive. But estate planning doesn’t end with getting the documents created. Some people go through the effort of creating an estate plan but then set it on a shelf or lock it away in a safe deposit box without telling anyone of its existence or its provisions. When disability or death occurs, family … [Read more...]

I’m sure you have heard the expression “don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched”. This expression is used to warn someone to wait until the good thing they are expecting to happen actually happens before they make a lot of plans. In the world of inheritances, this is a cardinal rule. Perhaps you remember the sensational case of the young Menendez brothers whose parents were murdered in a grisly manner. Upon their parents’ deaths, the brothers spent the next six months living quite … [Read more...]

On January 1, 2016 the State of California added a new way in which real estate is transferred after the owner dies. The revocable transfer on death deed (“TOD deed”) allows owners of real estate to transfer real estate to a named beneficiary and, after the owner’s death, the beneficiary owns the property. At the present time one can use a grant deed or joint tenancy deed to add someone’s name to his or her real estate. The major difference between the TOD deed and the other deeds is this: the TOD … [Read more...]

For most people, buying a home is one of the most important financial decisions they will ever make. Many homeowners unfortunately fall victim to lending abuses, and their long-awaited dream of homeownership often ends in countless financial problems. The Center for Responsible Lending reports that since 2007 more than 7.5 million homes have entered into the foreclosure process. Amherst Securities, a leading broker/dealer specializing in the trading of residential and commercial … [Read more...]