California Estate Planning
You have spent your whole life working hard to build your wealth and protect your loved ones. Although you are here to protect them now, it is important to plan for the time after your death. Estate planning conversations can be difficult, but they are necessary.
At my firm – the Law Office of Barbara J. Dibble – I work closely with clients to facilitate conversations about the end of life, health care options, and asset distribution. Contact me online or call 714-515-5126 to schedule a free initial consultation and learn more about estate planning. I help clients throughout Fullerton and Orange County with most aspect of estate planning, including:
- Wills: After you die, your estate planning documents are the only thing that can communicate your wishes to your family and loved ones. A will alone is never enough. I help clients write wills, trusts, and estate planning documents that make clear how they would like their assets divided and whom they would like named as beneficiaries. You will also use a will to name guardians for your children.
- Trusts: I help clients prepare trusts to explain how they would like their money divided and to leave instructions for its distribution. We look at the big picture, using trusts to proactively address estate taxes down the road, to avoid the expense of probate, and to control and manage money left to older children or for the care of loved ones or the care of minor children after you are gone.
- Probate: Generally, probate is something you want to avoid, and proper estate planning can accomplish that. If a loved one dies without a trust or a will or with only a will, you can be faced with a probate, and you need an experienced attorney to guide you through the process. I have experience handling complex probate proceedings.
- Trust administration: Administration of someone's trust when they die requires a trustee to take certain legal actions within legal deadlines. I work with trustees to help them carry out their duties and avoid liability. I also work closely with clients who are beneficiaries of trusts.
- Advance health care directives and durable powers of attorney for finance: If you become incapacitated or unable to make decisions for yourself, it is important to have one or more people in place who can handle your finances and make health care decisions for you when you are not able to do so. I help clients think about what is important to them and about the people to whom they wish to give the authority to make these decisions.
- Business formations: I work with business owners to determine the best entity for their business formation. I also help clients with ongoing business operations and business succession planning.
Schedule your free initial consultation with an experienced lawyer by contacting me online or calling 714-515-5126.