TOP CALIFORNIA ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEYS
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Attorney James L. Cunningham Jr., As Seen In
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California Estate Planning Attorneys
Service You Can Depend On
Our team of California Estate Planning attorneys take a highly personal approach to our work. We devote time and effort to fully understanding your assets, your personal goals, and the concerns you have for passing assets on to your loved ones; then we design a customized plan just for you. In our extensive practice we also provide trust administration, probate representation, tax planning, real estate matters, asset protection strategies, and much more.
Practice Areas
Of CunninghamLegal
- California Estate Planning
- Probate
- Trust Administration
- Business Law
- Tax Planning - Advanced High Net-Worth
- Real Estate
- Ca Prop 13 & Prop 19 Strategy
What Our Clients Have To Say
What To Know About Estate Planning
FAQs: Here are some common questions our attorneys receive about Estate Planning in California. Please contact us for more information.
Here at CunninghamLegal, we follow a highly defined process to create a California Living Trust as part of a complete Estate Plan. During that process, we make sure we’ve turned over every stone, followed up every clue, leveraged our experience, and crafted the best possible plan for everyone involved.
Yes, most people need to move their bank acct into a Living Trust. You contact your Bank and notify them of your intent to transfer. They’ll request documentation like the Certification of Trust, then you sign new ownership cards at the bank. If you have a different type of Trust, you may want to think twice before transferring a bank account. It's best to check with an attorney before retitling accounts.
California law requires a trust to terminate within 90 years or no later than 21 years after the death of an individual alive at the time the trust was created. Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities (USRAP) If your Trust was formed in another state (which is a common advanced planning strategy), the laws vary! It's important to consult an attorney to have them review your Trust if you are concerned about expiration.
These are completely different documents with completely different purposes, although the similarity in names often causes confusion.
1) A Will states your intentions for distributing your property. If you don’t provide an accompanying Living Trust, a Will must go through probate in court, where a judge will decide on distributing the assets.
2) A Living Trust is a legal “bucket” into which you place assets, controlled by a Trustee. It can be passed to the next generation without Probate Court involvement.
3) A Pour-Over Will is a special kind of Will that accompanies a Living Trust. In general, it states that any asset not named in the Trust should “pour over” into the Trust after the original Grantor of the Trust dies.
4) A Living Will is a document in which you instruct your loved ones that it’s okay to “pull the plug” if you are a terminal. Too often, loved ones are reluctant to discuss end of life decision-making and their medical wishes. The Living Will gives peace of mind to loved ones faced with difficult end-of-life decisions.
A Living Will is a legal document where you spell out your wishes about life support if you are ever in a permanent coma or at the end of life. It lets your loved ones know whether you would want doctors to continue treatment or allow a natural passing, so they don’t have to make that heartbreaking decision on their own.
How Can Our Attorneys Help You?
At CunninghamLegal, our attorneys assist with all estate planning matters including: setting up and amending your living trust, trust administration, asset protection, durable powers of attorney for property, medical directives, and living wills. We guide individuals, families and business owners with their family and business planning needs. With offices throughout California, we can provide you the support you need to accomplish your goals.
We're Here To Help
With offices throughout California, you’ll have access to our full range of California legal services. We proudly serve families across the San Francisco Bay Area & Marin County, the Greater Sacramento Area, and Greater Los Angeles from offices in San Rafael, Walnut Creek, Oakland, Pasadena, Westlake Village, Sacramento, and Auburn, California.