Estate Planning
Comprehensive Estate Planning
Create a plan for you and your loved ones before California does it for you. Estate planning is one of the most important things you can do to set your loved ones up for success following your passing. Whether it’s leaving them a family heirloom or a financial sum to help pay for your funeral, these assets give your family some peace of mind while they grieve your loss. Think about the peace of mind you’ll have with a thorough estate plan in place and your assets, your legacy, and loved ones are protected. We can help you feel confident and sure about the estate plan you have in place.
At Sandoval legacy Group, our specialty goes above and beyond basic estate planning. Our estate planning attorneys work with each client to provide a comprehensive and personalized estate plan that not only addresses the legalities associated with maintaining their financial affairs, but also focuses on minimizing taxes and distributing assets as efficiently as possible.
Our reliable, communicative, and experienced, estate planning attorneys know how important these decisions are, so we take the time to listen to you. Regardless of your estate’s size, we give the same attention and care to all our clients. If you are located in Southern California, contact one of our estate planning lawyers in Riverside County, Orange County, San Diego County and Los Angeles County, for a customized combination of estate planning documents that meet your needs and desires not only for you, but for generations to come.
Estate Planning
Asset Protection Planning
At Sandoval Legacy Group, our goal is to provide you with comprehensive legal solutions that will help you safeguard your wealth for generations to come. It is a concern for many wealthy individuals to preserve their assets and protect them for their children and grandchildren. By minimizing tax exposure, protecting against creditors and lawsuits, and preserving wealth for future generations, we help professionals, entrepreneurs, and high-net-worth individuals safeguard their assets. Southern California estate planning attorney, Dennis M. Sandoval, has developed several estate planning strategies that can protect inheritances from divorcing spouses or creditors. Our team of experienced attorneys will work with you to create an overall asset protection strategy that takes into account your legal, financial, and personal goals.
Estate Planning
Business Succession Planning
If you own your own business and want to appoint a successor, it takes intricate planning to make a transfer successful. It can be costly, damaging to family relationships, and even dangerous to lose a business if you do not plan for a smooth succession during your lifetime. As a result of estate planning, your assets, including your business, can be managed and transferred at the lowest financial and emotional cost to your family in the event of your death or incapacity. Business succession planning integrates estate planning techniques in order to position the business for continued success throughout and following its transfer.
A business succession plan is an essential component of any estate plan for any business owner who wishes to preserve the business. We provide small business and family business legal services, including entity formation, succession planning, and relocation advising, throughout Southern California. Many of our estate planning clients in Orange County, Riverside County, San Diego County, and Los Angeles County, are business owners or manage a large portfolio of residential and commercial rental real estate. Reach out to our team today to preserve these hard-earned assets and ensure that your successor has everything they need to thrive in your stead.
Estate Planning
LGBTQ Estate Planning (Married and Unmarried Same Sex Couples)
LGBTQ+ marriages are now recognized by all states and the federal government. This has created a major change and significant opportunity for wedded LGBTQ+ couples in Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, San Diego, and Los Angeles Counties.
Regardless of your family structure or marital status, it is essential to have an estate plan that is tailored specifically to same-sex couples, whether they are married or unmarried. It is important to note that the laws for same-sex couples are complicated, and they are constantly changing. Any planning done by a married LGBTQ+ couple prior to 2016 should also be reviewed because of the change in the law.
While this is good news for wedded LGBTQ+ couples, the changes in the law do nothing for the thousands of unmarried same-sex couples in California. This makes it more important than ever for LGBTQ+ couples, married and unmarried, to have a comprehensive estate plan in place. The law does not view your partner in the same light as you, whether or not you are married. There is no common law marriage in California. As a result, if you or your partner die without an estate plan, the survivor is unlikely to receive anything in probate.
No other law firm in California has more experience in estate planning for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer partners. We are very familiar with federal and state law as well as the Registered Domestic Partner laws in California. We can advise LGBTQ+ couples as to whether registration or marriage is right for them. Our attorneys are Certified Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts, and Probate Law Specialists, and Dennis M. Sandoval is also a Certified Taxation Law Specialists.
If you or a loved one has questions about same-sex estate planning, contact Dennis M. Sandoval, Southern California Estate Planning Attorney and Probate Lawyer at Sandoval Legacy Group. We want to make sure that everyone has access to effective legal protections for their assets, and every couple deserves to have the resources to set their partner up for success.
Estate Planning
Married Couples Estate Planning
Estate planning is an especially good exercise for married couples, particularly those with minor children. Life is full of uncertainties; it is never too early for married couples to create an estate plan. As a couple, you must decide who will care for your minor children if anything happens to you. Your plan can always be adjusted as time goes on. For example, if your children are grown, putting together a Living Trust may be the best way to ensure that your assets pass directly to your adult children upon your death, without probate.
Whether or not you have children, it’s also an excellent time to share what you do and don’t want in terms of the distribution of individual personal property. With over 30 years of experience and by listening closely to the needs of our clients, we can provide a unique perspective on how their future will be impacted by the decisions that are made today. Regardless of the size of your estate and your wishes for asset distribution, we will do all the leg work so that all your wishes are met. Therefore, you’ll leave your significant other and family in a better position in the aftermath of your passing.
Estate Planning
Pet Trusts
Concerned about the welfare of your pet after you are gone? Then you may need a Pet Trust. Sandoval Legacy Group can help you plan out the next steps and ensure everything is in place for when your beloved companion needs it.
California is one of several states that allow residents to name guardians or create trusts to ensure a pet is well cared for after its owners die. Any pet owner knows that caring for an animal goes beyond feeding and housing it. As a beloved member of your family, your pet deserves to receive the same care and attention as it did when you were alive. A comprehensive estate plan should take into account not just your pet’s immediate needs, but also the long-term demands associated with care.
Pet trusts require you to designate a trustee to fulfill your wishes after your death, and are subject to some limitations, just like other types of trusts. An experienced estate planning attorney can help you calculate the long-term costs of pet care and coordinate the legal strategies to safeguard your pet’s funds.
Estate Planning
Personal Injury Settlement Consulting
For those dealing with personal injury litigations, the last thing they want to worry about is how to organize their settlement after the fact. Our law firm has extensive experience in trusts, estate planning, elder law, special needs planning, business succession, tax planning/controversy, probate, life care planning, asset protection, and conservatorships, making us the perfect partner for personal injury attorneys. A successful settlement is crucial when your client is ready to begin a new life. We are a trusted partner for managing your client’s settlement property and protecting you throughout the process with over 30 years of legal experience.
Estate Planning
Persons with Large Retirement Accounts
You can think of your retirement accounts as lifelines in retirement. As you age and become unable to work, they keep you financially secure and independent. Retirement planning and estate planning play equal roles in preparing for the future. While the former will ensure that you have enough money to last your non-working years, the latter will ensure that your money goes to its rightful inheritors.
Our estate planning attorneys are Certified Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law Specialists in addition to Dennis M. Sandoval, a Certified Taxation Law Specialist. Many of the law firm’s estate planning clients have large retirement accounts, such as Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), 401(k)s, and Tax-Sheltered Annuities, also known as 403(b) and 451 accounts. At the death of an owner of a large retirement account, like an IRA, the retirement asset can be subject to as many as six separate taxes. Finding ways to mitigate these expenses will be vital to maximizing the inheritance for your family.
Investing in retirement accounts and planning for your estate are intertwined. Keep in mind that beneficiary names should always be updated based on your current relationship status and family needs. There are some ways to reduce the overall output of retirement accounts, but they can result in high taxes. We have the experience and qualifications to assist you with all your advanced estate planning and retirement planning needs. In taking the time to learn about your situation and cater our approach to your specific requirements, we’re confident that we can find a balance that works for you and your family.
Estate Planning
Unmarried Couples Estate Planning
The number of unmarried cohabiting couples in the US has nearly tripled over the past two decades-from 6 million to 17 million. In spite of this, laws and regulations tend to be primarily focused on protecting and addressing married spouses’ interests. Like unmarried LGBTQ couples, unmarried couples of the opposite sex are legal strangers under the law. The law tends to respond slowly to changes in society. In California, the concept of “common law marriage,” which is recognized in a few states, is not recognized by law. Unmarried couples aren’t protected by many legal safeguards. Especially in estate planning, where financial complexity and challenges are prevalent.
While choosing to delay marriage, or not marry at all, is quite common, the law, however, continues to draw a sharp distinction between the rights of married partners and those of unmarried partners. For unmarried couples, there’s no presumption that your estate will pass to your partner. In fact, without a solid estate plan, your partner may be shut out of the decision making and the inheritance when you die, the law generally favors your next of kin to receive your assets.
Unmarried couples may find estate planning a bit more challenging. Proper planning, however, can ensure that your individual and joint assets are distributed appropriately and efficiently according to your wishes. It’s essential for unmarried partners to think through their estate plan on a regular basis and ensure their documents are clear and up to date.
If you are located in Riverside County, Orange County, San Diego County, San Bernardino County, or Los Angeles County, our trusted and experienced team of estate planning attorneys can help you determine the estate plan that is right for you and your partner.
Estate Planning
Unmarried Individuals Estate Planning
Estate planning for the single person is more complex and arguably more important than it is for married couples. If you were unmarried and living alone, who would handle your affairs if you could not? California, like most states, has laws that force an answer to this question if you don’t specify beneficiaries of your own. With the right documents in place, you can ensure that your affairs will be handled by the person you choose if you are incapable of doing so.
Unmarried individuals do not have many of the legal protections afforded to married couples. There is often a need to designate financial and healthcare agents to assist the unmarried person in the event of incapacity during a lifetime. The unmarried person may have no children or may not desire to have the children manage his or her financial affairs and health care decisions, instead preferring a girlfriend, boyfriend or trusted friend to do so. Unfortunately, those people have no standing under the law to provide assistance.
Interstate Succession Laws
At the very least, an unmarried individual should have: (1) a living trust to hold and protect assets, assure an easy transition of management of your assets in the event of incapacity or death, and to avoid probate; (2) a pour-over Will as a safety mechanism in case a probate is necessary; (3) a Durable Power of Attorney for Property for management of income and assets in the event of incapacity; (4) an Advance Health Care Directive to designate the person who will make health care and other personal decisions for you if you cannot do so, and (5) a HIPAA Pre-Authorization Forms in order to facilitate communication between personnel at hospitals, doctor offices, labs, and other health care professionals and your trustees and agents.
Unmarried individuals face unique estate planning challenges and should be sure to work with an estate planning expert who understands their special situations. It will be our pleasure to make the process as seamless and painless as possible for you. Our team of experienced estate planning attorneys will work with you to create a customized estate plan that will provide peace of mind if something should happen to you. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
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With office locations throughout Southern California, Sandoval Legacy Group, a division of Holstrom, Block & Parke, offers comprehensive and personalized estate planning, special needs planning, trust administration, probate, and conservatorships expert services in Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Orange County, San Diego County, and Los Angeles County.
Why Choose Us?
Estate Planning
A comprehensive approach to estate planning that preserves your family’s legacy and wealth based on your individual circumstances.
Elder Law
Prepare for the unexpected by obtaining a medical power of attorney, healthcare directives, and eldercare options.
Probate
Please contact us if you need representation in probate court, or if you wish to avoid probate court altogether. Incorporating probate avoidance strategies into your overall estate plan is one of the greatest gifts you can leave your loved ones.
Special Needs Trusts
In addition to being members of the Special Needs Alliance and the Academy of Special Needs Planners, our law firm can also advise you regarding the intricacies of administering a Special Needs Trust.