The Wall Street Journal recently wrote a warning in case you haven’t updated your estate plan in a while and reasons not to wait. We’ve seen the same scenarios in our decades of services as estate planning, trust and tax attorneys here in San Diego and throughout the Southwest. Usually the story involves a business owner or a divorced parent with investments who simply haven’t updated their estate plan in several years. No one ever expects to pass away, especially at a reasonably early age. Many of us have known people in their 50’s or 60’s who seem very fit and full of life who pass away suddenly due to an illness or accident. The resulting estate issues for surviving heirs and beneficiaries can entangle businesses and assets for more than a year resulting in major financial and emotional consequences for those left behind.
Those who own a home in California are primary examples. Although filled with good intentions, one just never got around to placing the home and other assets in a trust. Upon passing, the home and all other assets not protected by a trust must go through California’s probate court adding substantial costs and taxes which could have been saved with some minimal planning. Allen Barron’s integrated estate planning, trust, legal and tax services help to ensure you maximize the protections of assets while preserving as much of your hard-earned legacy for your beneficiaries and the causes you deeply care about.
“We help to facilitate conversations which many people thought would be quite difficult,” says Janathan Allen, managing partner. “We make the process as straight forward as possible, guiding our clients through the development or update of a succession plan or estate plan.” You should update any existing plan ever two to three years to account for changes in the family, advances in assets and business development and changes in federal or state law. If you haven’t updated your estate plan in a while or need help getting started we invite you to contact us or call 866-631-3470 to schedule a free consultation. We help to make the process easy for you today, while saving your heirs and beneficiaries from the financial and emotional burdens which result from the failure to create or update a plan.
