Anyone who’s spent more than a couple of years in California knows that there is no shortage of interesting and bizarre weather in the Golden State. Earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, and landslides are three types of severe weather phenomena that Californians are uniquely vulnerable to. In addition to those events, there is always the garden-variety severe thunderstorm and high winds that can ravage your area. In Read More

In California, the three M’s are known to citizens as Medicaid, Medicare, and Medi-Cal. You probably know that all three of these programs pay for various healthcare costs, but you might still be fuzzy on the distinctions between these three programs. This blog will lay out many of the key differences between Medi-Cal and Medicare to give you an idea of what you may be eligible for.  What is Medicare? The first Read More

Medi-Cal is California’s state Medicaid program that extends health coverage to lower-income individuals, pregnant women, seniors, and other groups, including childless adults whose incomes are below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Many different individuals make use of Medi-Cal; estimates have shown that around one-third of Californians use Medi-Cal.  A common usage of Medi-Cal is for seniors to pay for Read More

Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program that provides free or inexpensive medical care to children and adults who meet requirements. Most Medi-Cal users will never see a bill, but families might have to pay a maximum of $39 per month. You can apply for Medi-Cal on the website for Covered California, which is the state’s health insurance marketplace; you can shop around for different healthcare plans there. What Read More

Even if you don’t think you have enough property or assets for it to be worthwhile to craft a Last Will and Testament, you might be persuaded differently if you understood how complicated it can get for your loved ones. After you pass away, your estate will be at the mercy of the probate courts to divide up your property. These courts are generally bound by California’s intestate succession laws in deciding who your Read More

Probate court is the venue in which a decedent’s estate is settled and the Last Will and Testament is verified and executed. Once all probate obligations are satisfied, benefits and inheritances are distributed to the beneficiaries. Some estate-planning documents may preclude a decedent’s estate from having to pass through probate court, such as a Trust.  If you do have to deal with the state probate system in Read More

Probate court is where you will likely find yourself (and other family members) if a loved one has recently passed away and left behind any property or assets. Hopefully, he or she addressed their wishes on how they want their estate to be distributed to their heirs (sometimes called beneficiaries) in a Last Will and Testament. If they did, then probate will be pretty quick and simple; the document only needs to be Read More

In 2019, it was estimated that 69 percent of all U.S. adults either have a Facebook account or have visited the social media site at least once. More than half, 51 percent, said they visit multiple times per day. With this explosion in social media use among middle-aged and elderly people, more estate plans are including digital assets.  What are Digital Assets? Digital assets are, essentially, any multimedia Read More

When an individual is incapacitated, it can trigger a number of legal actions and agreements. If someone has a living Will, medical power of attorney, or financial power of attorney, they often come into play when an individual’s mental capacities are limited. This leads to an important question, though: how is incapacity determined? Identifying a Deficiency Legally, incapacity refers to an individual’s Read More

If you’ve been named the beneficiary of a decedent’s assets in California, you have certain rights that the trustee or executor must follow. If the decedent had a Will but no trust, the estate must go through probate before you can access your portion of the estate. However, if the decedent placed their assets in a trust and named a trustee prior to their death, the process is often much shorter. Annual Accounting Read More