California will preparation attorneys and estate planners have seen their fair share, but they’re not the only ones. Take Marvel comic writer Mark Gruenwald. His dying wishes were to have his cremains mixed into the dye that would be used to print a final anthology of his works, Squadron Supreme.

Another one for the books is the epic case of Leona Helmsley’s canine companion. The dog, named Trouble, was the recipient of twelve million dollars upon Helmsley’s death while several potential heirs were left scratching their heads.

And while there are many cases like these, the last our Newport Beach estate planning attorneys will list here is one that doesn’t soon leave the mind’s eye. Jeremy Bentham, a philosopher of the late 1700s and early 1800s wrote in his final will and testament that he wanted his body “preserved” and sort of just kept around. The clothed body to this day is in the confines of a glass case and the Bentham’s head has been remodeled–if you will–with a wax likeness.  From time to time the strange conglomeration of human bone and wax is carted around from one location to another.

So, no matter what your requests are, a final will and testament will protect them — and you, and unless you’re like Leona Helmsley, it will protect someone other than your Maltese! Contact us today for help with your California will preparation needs.

According to California estate planners and others on the inside track, the sources who leaked the details of the deal must remain anonymous, but here are the highlights:

Those in charge of the Jackson estate and the officers with whom they made the deal at Sony will be able to jointly decide when and how the King of Pop’s recordings will be used, including movies, television shows, and other entertainment purposes.

Michael’s 2009 hit song “This is It” is among the recordings that are part of the deal.

Both Sony, the trustees of the Jackson estate, and members of the Jackson family feel strongly that the appeal will not soon fade — Michael’s music airtime was off the charts when he passed away, and sales of decades-old albums spiked like never before.

Both Sony and Jackson estate officials feel that this deal could make Michael’s catalog of songs at least as successful as the Beatles and Elvis Presley. If the California estate planning experts representing the assets of the Jackson estate play their cards right, Michael’s three children will surely never want for a thing.

Estate planning attorneys all over California and the US will be interested to see how the contract between the Jackson estate and Sony plays out over the next several years. Anything less than highly lucrative will be quite a surprise!

If you are the caregiver of a child with autism or any other dependent in need of special care, it may be time to discuss a special needs trust with your California estate planning attorney.

A special needs trust set up by a California estate planner allows you to put liquid assets and other property away that could be worth more later and can help to pay for the cost of care in the event that the main caregiver passes away first. It’s an open trust that allows for any member of the family (or even friends) to donate to the future of the special needs child.

Karen Greenberg of Parenting the Special Needs Child notes, “Funds placed in a special needs trust are not counted as your child’s assets, and will not jeopardize these needs based entitlements.” Greenberg adds, “If the special needs trust is properly drafted, it will be considered a ‘qualified disability trust’ which has a very generous standard deduction (equivalent to a personal exemption) currently $3500 under current treasury regulations. This means that the first $3500 of investment income generated by a special needs trust will be offset and therefore not taxable. The same investment income on your tax return may be taxed at your tax rate (currently 25-28% for most tax payers).”

Newport Beach asset management attorneys can help you set up a special needs trust in California. This could be a great fit for you and your family. Investing in your future and the future of your special needs child and also saving on taxes can only be a good thing!

Creating a Private Annuity: This is a great way to avoid taxation on an estate, and if this applies to you, you’ll definitely want to ask your California asset management lawyer about it. A private annuity allows the grantor of an estate (through his or her trustee) to sell any asset held within the estate to a son, daughter, or other family member of the next generation. There is something called an “unsecured promise to pay” that applies to the member of the younger generation who purchases the asset (this basically means that there don’t really need to be payments, and unless otherwise stipulated, they can be in pretty much any amount).

Setting up an FLP (Family Limited Partnership): This is a tool in the estate planning tool belt that is often underutilized. An FLP allows for the grantor (or the trustee under the guidance of the grantor) to transfer the ownership of any family business. This business may be a mom and pop partnership or a larger s-corp. The FLP will transfer the business into the name(s) of the child(ren) and in this sense it will protect any assets within the estate from creditors and undue taxation.FLPs are very flexible and allow for the estate to be taxed at the tax rate of the children, which clearly (except in wild anomalies) is far lower.

These are just two tools you’ll want to bring up when you chat with your Newport Beach estate planner. We’ll keep discussing other ways to lower your estate tax—we invite you to peruse the remainder of the Web site.

California estate planning lawyers can help you understand and plan your gifting to avoid taxation on stocks or cash gifts. Gifting stocks may not be a bad idea in this market — while the value of stocks dropped to staggering lows across many corporations traded on the NYSE, many are on the rise in the first quarter of 2010. Given the pendulum-like nature of stocks, someone gifted stocks after your death may be able to cash them out and enjoy the liquid assets after you pass away. In the meantime, however, that is to say, before you die, gifting the stocks will allow them to continue to increase in value. This means more value for the recipient of the gift — and if you gift to a minor child, you may be able to take advantage of that increase — tax free — before your final will and testament is being read.

Newport Beach asset protection attorneys can tell you more about how gifting can work in your favor as well as that of your loved ones. If you have an interest in working gifting into your estate plan, contact your California asset management lawyer today.

Now is the time more than ever.

With estate tax laws changing in the not to distant future, now is the time to discuss the nuts and bolts of estate planning. If you have yet to do this, you won’t want to wait any longer. If you have already done this and think that you’re somehow safeguarded, you’ll want to put a call in to your California asset protection attorney to make sure this is the case.

The fact is, the laws regarding estate taxes and asset taxes are changing. Because of these changes, your estate and assets may be at risk.

You need to know sooner rather than later whether or not the changes in these tax laws will have any affect on your estate or how your assets will be taxed.

If you have not yet created a trust, discuss how this might help certain assets within your estate if some of the new estate taxes will apply to you and your estate.

If you’re like most people, chances are you’ve been putting this discussion off. Now is the time to press pause and contact your Southern California estate planning attorney. If you wait any longer you could be putting yourself at unnecessary risk. Know your rights and let your attorney help you decide what is best for your estate and assets!

Choosing a retirement savings fund can be a tough choice, but in tough economic times and many unsavory characters in the lending business as well as predatory lenders laying in wait for people to slip up, protecting your retirement earnings has never been more important.

A private retirement plan has much better protection when creditors come knocking. Because what it held by a private retirement fund is considered “essential to your retirement,” the protection it offers is a definite upgrade from an IRA, which will only protect your assets to a certain degree and in specific circumstances.

But there’s news about private retirement funds that make them even sweeter: if you don’t have one set up yet, you may do so… and you can transfer monies and other assets from your IRA into your new private retirement plan and the assets will be protected after the transfer is complete.

Conversely, if you have an existing private retirement plan and you’d like to marry it into your IRA, you may do so, and the assets from the private retirement plan will still have the same protection it did before, so long as there is a paper trail that proves the assets were initially within the private retirement plan. You can work with your asset protection lawyer in Orange County to ensure you have all the proper documentation on file.

It’s food for thought and can offer a great deal of protection and can also avoid “fraudulent transfers” during tough times. It’s worth your time to discuss it with an experienced California business transactions attorney.

While these are certainly understandable reasons why estate planning may not seem important, it actually makes it more important than ever.

Protect your assets: even if you have a fraction of what you had five years ago, you need to discuss with a California estate planning lawyer what you can do to protect what you still have.

Save yourself from creditor harassment: if you have assets in a trust or other sheltering vehicle, you can foreclose on a home and not worry about losing what is protected within your estate in offshore and most domestic trusts—but you won’t know if you qualify for this if you don’t discuss it with your Newport Beach asset protection attorney.

According to the most recent statistics concerning wealth management and estate planning, including power of attorney, trusts, and will preparation, 13 percent less Americans are estate planning in 2010 than were in 2007. According to the poll which was conducted by Lawyers.com, just over 70 percent of those asked noted that saving money was more important than estate planning. So where’s the problem? If you’re not protecting what you are earning you it is vulnerable and can easily become the prey of predatory lenders and creditors!

Protect what is yours and discuss the best ways to do it for your unique financial situation. Contact a California estate planning lawyer today—have your questions answered and stop putting off the planning of your estate!

When you create your new LLC, do it with the counsel of a California business transactions attorney to make sure you know exactly what is protected and how. You need to be aware of your creditors and the moves the can pull to get what they want. There are options to make things more difficult to access, but you should NEVER try to understand and implement these on your own – you’re not a legal professional, and you want your company and what it owns safe… and legal.

A creditor can obtain a judgment or foreclose on property if you owe them money. Talk to your California asset management attorney about how this can be avoided and/or ways to establish asset protection for your LLC in California that will better protect what your business entity owns.

Asset protection in California is a great tool – but it’s a serious tool, and should not be used in a cavalier or careless manner. Those who try to use asset protection after a judgment or divorce papers have already been served are walking a fine line… a line that could be deemed fraud. Once this line has been crossed, the consequences are severe and things will not pan out in your favor.

The proper and responsible thing to do is sit down with a California asset protection attorney BEFORE you experience a life change that could affect your assets. Speak to your attorney about protecting what is rightfully yours before a divorce, before going into a new business , or before entering into any agreement that will mean you owe money to a creditor, including purchasing a new home or car.

So what’s the final word? Use asset protection a) before any major life changes, and b) with the help and guidance of a California asset protection lawyer.

If you have any questions or any uncertainties regarding when you should use asset protection, contact your Newport Beach asset protection lawyer today.