Sirkin Law Trust Estate Probate Litigation Attorney

Alzheimer's Attorneys Los Angeles Discuss a Care Plan for your Parents

Attorneys For Families With Alzheimer's Dementia Los Angeles CA | Conservatorship  Los Angeles Attorney & Lawyer

Attorneys for Families with Alzheimer's Dementia Los Angeles Attorney | Sirkin Law Group  Wills Trusts Estates | 818.340.4479 | Los Angeles Alzheimer's | Conservatorship & Alzheimers Care Ca

Whether in a crisis situation or not,  Alzheimer's attorneys and legal staff prepare Los Angeles families with Alzheimer's Dementia focusing on a care plan, which helps implement goals and small steps to protect your parents or the person with dementia.   Our attorney in Los Angeles, Pasadena and Glendale has over 27 years of experience putting a protective Alzheimer's care plan together for families like yours.  Attorneys at Sirkin Law Group have a philosophy of preventative legal care.    We do not just manage Alzheimer's dementia, we legally prepare for it.   Talk to our lawyers about your family's Alzheimer's or dementia problems and how to manage care for your aging parents.

Our services range from finding financial resources for housing, nursing home planning, conservatorship for Alzheimer's and dementia patients, elder law, and care planning for dementia.   

How do you prepare for a person with dementia or Alzheimer's disease?

1.  Ask whether any of your parents or other family members have had dementia, Alzheimers or Parkinson's disease?   

2.   Unfocus from the disease itself and focus on small goals.

3.   If any member of your family has had dementia, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, then you must put in place a series of legal documents to protect yourself and your family.

4.   The legal documents we recommend to our clients with a family history of dementia is as follows:

A.   A Living Trust

B.   A Will

C.   Durable Power of Attorney for Asset Management.

D.   Advanced Health care Directive OR a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and HIPAA authorizations.

E.   A complete inventory of assets updated yearly.  

F.   A legal transfer document allowing transfers of appropriate assets to the trust.

If you have a family member who has already been diagnosed with dementia, it is not too late to put together protective documents, if a physician can certify the capacity of the person with dementia.

Even when a person loses mental capacity, it is still not too late, even if no legal documents are in already in place, because we can still prepare for dementia, with a Conservatorship proceeding, with a substituted judgment petition and a court order.  Yes, we can even prepare wills and trusts after capacity is lost, with a court order.  Our Alzheimer's attorneys are legal professionals here to assist you and your family in Los Angeles.

Mina Sirkin is a dementia attorney, Certified Specialist Attorney in Probate, Estate Planning, and Trust Law in California helping families in Los Angeles Ca.   With over 22 years of experience, we can advise you on how to legally prepare for dementia step-by-step.   Los Angeles Conservatorship Attorney and to Dementia & Elder Law Attorneys Los Angeles.  Call us at 818.340.4479 0r 800.300.9977. Call and talk to our attorneys about Alzheimer's and dementia in Los Angeles and Glendale.  Schedule a call or a virtual online appointment here.  

 

 

 

Glendale Conservatorships

Glendale California 

Pasadena Conservatorship

Pasadena Conservatorship Attorney

Los Angeles Probate Lawyer

Attorneys for Families with Alzheimer's Dementia Los Angeles Attorney | Sirkin Law Group  Wills Trusts Estates | 818.340.4479 | Los Angeles Alzheimer's | Conservatorship & Alzheimers Care Ca

Whether in a crisis situation or not,  Alzheimer's attorneys and legal staff prepare Los Angeles families with Alzheimer's Dementia focusing on a care plan, which helps implement goals and small steps to protect your parents or the person with dementia.   Our attorney in Los Angeles, Pasadena and Glendale has over 27 years of experience putting a protective Alzheimer's care plan together for families like yours.  Attorneys at Sirkin Law Group have a philosophy of preventative legal care.    We do not just manage Alzheimer's dementia, we legally prepare for it.   Talk to our lawyers about your family's Alzheimer's or dementia problems and how to manage care for your aging parents.

Our services range from finding financial resources for housing, nursing home planning, conservatorship for Alzheimer's and dementia patients, elder law, and care planning for dementia.   

How do you prepare for a person with dementia or Alzheimer's disease?

1.  Ask whether any of your parents or other family members have had dementia, Alzheimers or Parkinson's disease?   

2.   Unfocus from the disease itself and focus on small goals.

3.   If any member of your family has had dementia, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, then you must put in place a series of legal documents to protect yourself and your family.

4.   The legal documents we recommend to our clients with a family history of dementia is as follows:

A.   A Living Trust

B.   A Will

C.   Durable Power of Attorney for Asset Management.

D.   Advanced Health care Directive OR a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and HIPAA authorizations.

E.   A complete inventory of assets updated yearly.  

F.   A legal transfer document allowing transfers of appropriate assets to the trust.

If you have a family member who has already been diagnosed with dementia, it is not too late to put together protective documents, if a physician can certify the capacity of the person with dementia.

Even when a person loses mental capacity, it is still not too late, even if no legal documents are in already in place, because we can still prepare for dementia, with a Conservatorship proceeding, with a substituted judgment petition and a court order.  Yes, we can even prepare wills and trusts after capacity is lost, with a court order.  Our Alzheimer's attorneys are legal professionals here to assist you and your family in Los Angeles.

Mina Sirkin is a dementia attorney, Certified Specialist Attorney in Probate, Estate Planning, and Trust Law in California helping families in Los Angeles Ca.   With over 22 years of experience, we can advise you on how to legally prepare for dementia step-by-step.   Los Angeles Conservatorship Attorney and to Dementia & Elder Law Attorneys Los Angeles.  Call us at 818.340.4479 0r 800.300.9977. Call and talk to our attorneys about Alzheimer's and dementia in Los Angeles and Glendale.  Schedule a call or a virtual online appointment here.  

 

 

 

Glendale Conservatorships

Glendale California 

Pasadena Conservatorship

Pasadena Conservatorship Attorney

Los Angeles Probate Lawyer

What Are the Best Litigation Resolution Tools for Trustees in Los Angeles California?

Skilled trust counsel can provide the best estate and trust litigation resolution and settlement tools for trustees in Los Angeles County California and those tools are in fact very simple in nature.   In essence, inheritance law trust settlement tools allow for communication with the beneficiary or heir which opens the door for settlements.

Taking the time to offer the simple settlement tools in trust and probate cases is well worth it, as it may save you lots of money in litigation.  Management of trustee and beneficiary disputes and their resolution involve many factors.    Just as beneficiaries are given the ability and many tools which protect them against malfeasance by trustees, so have the trustees who sometimes deal with unreasonable beneficiaries.  ADR or alternative dispute resolution works quite well in the trust litigation arena.

California fiduciaries are held to a standard of care.   Trust documents often describe the standard of care of the trustee, but where they fail to specify the care, California law states that the trustee is held to a reasonable trustee standard.   A very detailed look at the standard of care described in the trust can eliminate most issues in litigation. Many times, the trust states that the trustee is not liable for damages unless the loss has resulted from gross negligence. Gross negligence is not the same as negligence.

At the same time, where the trustee has special skills, the courts can expect the trustee to use his special skills in managing the assets of the trust.   Trustees who invest the trust's assets are held to a prudent person (Prudent Investor Rule) standard in California unless the trust specifically relieves them of that specific standard.

For example, the trust may specify that the trustee may hold a property vacant for a period of time after the death of the settlor.  

Litigation can occur where the parent has left no specific instructions before death and one child lives in the property of the parent and refuses to pay rent.

Managing expectations of the beneficiaries where one child may live in the property of the parent can be a simple task, if done when the parent is alive and competent.   For example, the trust instrument may allow any beneficiary to live in the property for a specific period of time after death of the settlor rent-free, or at a low rent.

What can a Los Angeles trustee do to manage potential disputes among a successor trustee and beneficiaries?

1.   Give Notice of Proposed Action.   For example, a trustee who seeks to charge a beneficiary rent during the period of administration, but before distribution should give Notice of Proposed Action to determine the level of potential disputes.

2.   Give Notice of Proposed INACTION.   California law allows a trustee to give Notice of Inaction where the trustee seeks not to take action on a particular issue.   For example, this can mean that even though the beneficiary may expect the trustee to rent the house, the trustee will not be renting it, because the cost of bringing it up to rent standards is too high.

3.   Seek pre-litigation mediation.    Trustees and beneficiaries who may not agree on certain issues, such as sales price, sale date and distribution date can often prevent future disputes when parties realize the cost of litigation and want to act timely to prevent harm in a declining market. There are many times in a declining market where the beneficiaries do not recognize market value as a result of a failure in communication and an early agreement regarding sales price and sales timing.

4.   Obtain instructions from the court.   A Petition for instructions is sometimes the best remedy for preventing litigation.  Before a trustee takes action, he or she can seek instructions from the court.    This can be an especially useful tool where the trustee expects disputes regarding the manner of distribution or trustee's compensation.

5.   Present a settlement agreement early.   Early mediation and early settlement offers resolve cases. Settlement agreements which involve specific actions of the trustee can be drafted quickly and prevent future inheritance law disputes on single issue disputes.  Once entered, the trustee and beneficiaries can limit the scope of the settlement, but agree on its enforcement and admissibility in the event there is a future disagreement on that issue.   A settlement agreement can be presented before mediation or during mediation and often protects all parties from significant legal fees which can be expended during litigation.

Mina N. Sirkin is a Trust and Estate Litigation Attorney in Los Angeles, California.   Ms. Sirkin is a Board Certified Specialist Attorney in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California.   For consultation appointments about settling probate and trust cases or litigation prevention in trust and estates, call Karen Reyes at 818-340-4479.   http://SirkinLaw.com/attorneys.html  

Mina N. Sirkin, Specialist in Trust and Probate

Law in Los Angeles Ca

Call: 818.340.4479

Email: [email protected]

"We help our clients negotiate and settle estate inheritance law cases in Los Angeles California."

What is the most efficient way of transferring wealth after death? Los Angeles California

Mina Sirkin, Los Angeles Probate Lawyer, gives guidance and a roadmap to clients regarding probate guidelines, or probate steps in California and the most efficient method of transferring wealth after death of a loved one in Los Angeles.

Transfer of a deceased person's assets can occur in several different manners and has many steps:  1) By Probate Administration in court which has many probate steps; 2) By Trust Administration; or 3) By passing by Contract/joint tenancy or Beneficiary Designation. Each method has different guidelines and rules.  The last two methods are the most efficient ways of transferring assets of a deceased person.

Probate is a court proceeding that is set up to insures that notice is given to the appropriate heirs, family members, and that creditors of the decedent are adequately protected before assets of the decedent are distributed.  

Distribution of assets of a deceased person is then done either according to instructions in a will, or by California's intestacy rules, if there is no will.   Intestacy is the the default way California distributes the assets of a person who died without a will.

How long does it take for probate in California? Probate is a time-consuming process and in most cases can be avoided, if there is a living trust.   A nice probate in California can take about a year.   If there is any litigation involved in probate, it may take two years or longer to settle the estate.

A shorter way to distribute the assets of a decedent, would be if he/she had a trust.   Trust Administration is similar to probate administration, except that it generally does not involve the courts, unless there is litigation or questions regarding the rights of beneficiaries or duties of the trustee.   In trusts as well, Creditors are also given notice during the trust administration period and are afforded rights to file claims.   Trust distributions are done informally and simply by notice to the potential beneficiaries who can review an informal accounting.

For information on Los Angeles Probate requirements, contact Mina Sirkin, Los Angeles Probate Lawyer.  Ms. Sirkin is Certified as a Specialist lawyer in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law, in Los Angeles County, California.  818-340-4479. http://www.SirkinLaw.com/attorneys.html.

LOS ANGELES PROBATE

SIRKINLAW.COM ®

818.340.4479

PROBATE SPECIALIST ATTORNEY

LOS ANGELES

 

• Home
• Attorneys Lawyers
• About Us
• Services
• Contact Us
• Probate & Trust Law Ca
• Mediation & Litigation
• Conservatorships
• Probate Consultation Los Angeles | Probate Attorney Consultation
• Call

Sirkin Law Group's probate attorneys and lawyer regularly serve the following cities and areas in Los Angeles County, Ventura County, Orange County, Santa Barbara County. San Fernando Valley; Bell Canyon,Woodland Hills Calabasas Conservatorship & Elder Law, Complex Conservatorships, Complex Estates, Contested Conservatorship Litigation Woodland Hills & Los angeles,  Hidden Hills, Elder Law Woodland Hills, Conservatorship Woodland Hills,  West Hills, Los Angeles, Glendale, ProbateAttorneyLosAngeles, LosAngelesProbateAttorney, Calabasas, Woodland Hills Elder Law, Agoura, San Marino, Altadena, Eagle Rock, Alhambra, Downtown Los Angeles, Van Nuys, Pasadena, Studio City, West Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Burbank, LosAngeles, Encino, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, Reseda, North Hills, Sunland, Studio City, Universal City, North Hollywood, Sylmar, Northridge, North Hills, Granada Hills, Pocoima, Simi Valley, Canoga Park, Woodland Hills Conservatorship Attorney, East Los Angeles, Woodland Hills Elder Law Attorney,  West Hollywood, West Los Angeles, Chatsworth, Santa Monica, Culver City, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills Elder Law, West Hollywood, Anaheim, Playa Del Rey,, Marina Del Rey, Conservatorship, Woodland Hills, Venice, Santa Monica, Malibu, Culver City, Elder Law Conservatorship Woodland Hills Calabasas, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Los Angeles California, Trust Litigation La County, Torrance, Pacific Palisades, LosAngelesProbate, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, Long Beach, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa,Irvine, Laguna, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Newport Beach, Tustin, Fullerton, Los Angeles, Santa Ana, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Sherman Oaks, Studio City.   Practice areas: Los Angeles Probate Attorney, Probate Attorney Los Angeles, CA Probate Law, Probate Litigation Los Angeles, Trust Litigation Los Angeles, Probate Lawyer Los Angeles. Probate, Trust, Conservatorship, Special Needs Trusts, Los Angeles Conservatorship Attorney, Estate Planning, Conservatorship Litigation, Trust Litigation, and Probate Litigation areas. Los Angeles Probate Lawyer & Probate Attorney Los Angeles

 

 

Beneficiary Rights in Trusts | Sirkin Law Group | Los Angeles Ca Attorneys Lawyers

Beneficiary Right in Trusts | Sirkin Law Group | Los Angeles Ca Attorneys Lawyers | 818.340.4479

Beneficiary Rights Attorney:  Mina Sirkin is a Los Angeles Certified Specialist lawyer who handles beneficiary rights in trust and probate litigation matters in California:

Estate and trust beneficiaries often do not know the extent of their rights under California law.

Protecting a beneficiary's rights, claims and objections in trust and probate litigation matters involves taking immediate action.   Waiting too long to respond or object to petitions can often detrimentally affect the rights of beneficiaries.

If you are a trust or estate beneficiary, you should know about the following rights:

1.   Right to receive advice from an independent attorney.   Do not rely on advice given by the trustee or executor's attorney who does not represent you.

2.  Remember that if you don't question an action by a trustee or executor, you will waive your rights as to that action.

3.  Review the trust or will with an experienced beneficiary attorney in trust and probate cases for immediate impact on your interest.

4.  File any necessary objections timely and watch for no contest clauses. 

5.  Ask for an accounting in writing and keep a certified copy of your letter requesting the same.

6.  If you don't get a response to a request for an accounting, call your lawyer immediately.  

When needing counsel to review your beneficiary rights and trust documents, contact Beneficiary Rights Lawyers, Sirkin and Sirkin.  Our Certified Specialist in Probate Litigation in Los Angeles, California can assist you.   Contact us at: 818-340-4479.  http://www.SirkinLaw.com.   Probate Attorney Los Angeles.

Beneficiary Rights Attorney Los Angeles

Probate Attorney Los Angeles

Living Trust Consultation 

Living Trust Attorney Los Angeles

Conservatorship Attorney Los Angeles

Conservatorship Los Angeles

Glendale Special Needs Trusts

Glendale Conservatorship

Trust Litigation Attorney Los Angeles

Probate Litigation Attorneys Los Angeles

Probate Mediation Los Angeles

Special Needs Trust Attorney Los Angeles

 

 

 

 

Probate Attorney Los Angeles | Sirkin Law Group Probate | Los Angeles County, Glendale, Woodland Hills

Probate Attorney Los Angeles | Sirkin Law Group Probate | Call 818.340.447

Some of you may wonder what the probate process is like in Los Angeles from an attorney's perspective.  

"The most important fact to know about probate is that Probate is a protective proceeding."

1.   The process insures that the court supervises the actions of an executor or administrator.  

2.  The Court overlooks the admission of wills and allows a forum for people to question authenticity of any will or codicil.  Sometimes, a will or codicil cannot be admitted, if it was the result of undue influence, fraud or lack of capacity of the decedent.   The probate process allows for relatives to voice their concerns and objections to a will or codicil via a will contest.

3.   It insures that creditors' rights are protected, via a bond.

4.   Probate provides a method of transfer of title to property of a decedent.

5.  It includes a timeline for an accounting for the executor or administrator, and a time for distribution of the assets of the estate.

How do you file probate in Los Angeles?

The process in Los Angeles begins with a Petition for Probate filed with the Central Court (Downtown). The petition requires that a notice be published in the local newspaper where the decedent resided.   The reason for the publication and notice requirements is to make sure that any relatives find out about the probate filing, have an opportunity to object, and that creditors can come forward to collect any money due them by the decedent.

Unless there is a will that waives bond, or the court at its discretion waives the bond, the Court requires that an administrator/ executor post a bond. Sometimes, administrators cannot get bonded due to bad creditor, or prior bankruptcies or other reasons.    If a bond is ordered but it it is not posted, the executor/ administrator cannot get appointed unless an alternative method is used.  Bond waivers are getting more rare in Los Angeles and require a personal appearance to request one.

The alternative to a bond is a blocked account, or appointment of another person, such as a private professional fiduciary, or a trust company as administrator.

What if you can't agree to an issue in probate?

While there are many times where there are disputes regarding actions of an executor or administrator, there are great opportunities for settlement of cases in probate via mediation.    The least expensive way of settling a probate dispute is by mediation.

Why hire us?

Mina Sirkin is a nationally recognized probate attorney and has served as a media expert to CNN, MSNBC, Inside Edition, NPR and KTLA regarding probate and estate matters.  She is Certified as a Specialist by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California, in Probate, Estate Planning and Trust Law.   Mina Sirkin is rated 10/10 on Avvo.  Sirkin Law Group's Probate Offices are located in Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, Glendale and Pasadena. Probate Attorney Los Angeles  

Call: 818.340.4479. Los Angeles Probate Lawyer