San Diego Estate Planning Blog: Creating Legacies

From the desk of San Diego Probate Attorney, Kristina R. Hess Haymes…

The unthinkable happens…. someone you love is gone well before what you thought was “their time.”  It happened to me.  My dad was 66 when he died suddenly on a fishing trip in Alaska. Sure, he was a “senior citizen” at that point, but I thought I had more time with him.  I wasn’t ready to say good bye.  Fortunately, my dad had established a living trust with a local San Diego trust attorney years earlier, so we did not have to go through San Diego Probate Court, or Vista Probate Court.

Unfortunately, the unthinkable happens to people I know everyday.

So, what do you do when your mother or father, or another loved one dies suddenly?

Maybe your San Diego parent had been “meaning” to get around to putting an estate plan in place.  Maybe they had tried to “do it themselves” but never got around to finalizing the details.   I am sure they had the best of intentions, but maybe now you are sitting here reading this post, trying hard not to panic, asking yourself, “What NOW??”

Step 1, Contact a San Diego Probate Attorney like Kristina Hess Haymes

Contact a San Diego Probate Attorney.  Here, at Haymes Law Group, we can help you navigate this difficult and painful time.  Don’t panic, help is a phone call away.  Kristina will skillfully and compassionately help you through this time.

Step 2, Prepare an Inventory of Assets

The first thing you have to do is gather an inventory of assets.  Did your mom or dad own a home?  Did they have retirement accounts, bank accounts, stock, bonds, brokerage accounts?  Did they own rental properties, or businesses?

From the desk of Kristina Hess Haymes, San Diego Trust Attorney

I love January.  I write this every January it seems.  But, I particularly love January this year because after last year, a clean slate, fresh start, and new beginning is more refreshing than ever!!

So, as a San Diego will and trust attorney I am writing to you about getting your legal house in order.

Has getting a will, child guardianship plan, and/or living trust been on your list of things to do for awhile now?

Is getting your legal affairs in order on your list of new year’s resolution?

Or maybe, you just had a new baby, and you are overwhelmed by this and cannot even entertain the thought about someone else raising your precious baby.

Maybe you have been meaning, wanting, thinking about getting your legal affairs in order but you just haven’t gotten around to doing anything… yet.

Well, no time like the present.

Make good on your resolution to make sure you will, trust, and other legal planning documents are in order.

Maybe you need a kids protection plan, so that your precious child were never to end up in the arms of strangers and those you love would be able to easily take him/her if an emergency arose and the authorities wouldn’t get involved.

Maybe your San Diego living trust is out of date, your assets have changed, your life has changed, or the law has changed and you need to make it up to date.

Whatever, the case, here’s your gentle nudge to make good on your resolution.

Ask me for your free new year’s gift if you come see Kristina Hess Haymes during January!

Estate Planning for life!

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Kristina Hess Haymes

From the desk of Del Mar, San Diego Estate Planning Lawyer, Kristina Hess Haymes

Prefabricated Estate Plans

A lot of San Diego companies are now offering prefabricated estate plans to their employees.  Alternatively, San Diego companies are offering legal insurance that will cover a basic will and then you pay additional fees for a California living trust.  It’s also true that the military has offered such services through on-base legal counsel offices for quite some time.  If you have such a prefabricated, one-size-fits-all plan, you might be surprised to learn that your planning might not be as comprehensive as you might imagine.

Better Than Nothing

The reality is that having a plan is generally better than not having a plan.  Think about the issues that planning can solve in advance.  Passing on assets without the need for intervention by a San Diego Probate Court, seamless transfer of guardianship rights for your children, and knowing that your wishes will be followed with respect to medical treatment in the event that you are incapacitated.  Having a plan in place can help you sleep at night, because you’ll know that your loved ones will be cared for emotionally and financially and that they’ll know you made the tough choices with respect to your own medical care, rather than laying that burden on their shoulders.

So in general, having any sort of plan is typically better than not having a plan at all.  That’s exactly why many employers and the military offer free, prefabricated plans.  It gives our soldiers and other employees an opportunity to put a plan in place, which is much more than can be said for the majority of people in our country.

But Not Good Enough

If you have an employer provided or military estate plan, what you really need to do is ask whether it is good enough for you and your family.  Does it fully serve your needs, and is it customized to your unique situation?  Was it drafted with care specifically for you by a person who has made it their mission to get the details of estate planning right?  Our firm focuses on estate planning clients, so I can tell you from experience that no two clients are alike.  There is a lot on the line, and you probably should at least take a hard look at the planning you’ve been given to see if it really does address all of your needs.

In many cases, employer provided estate plans are “administered” by people who really don’t understand the intricacies of estate planning.  That means that they might not even know what questions to ask and what areas to address, not to mention what areas could be of particular concern to you.

Get It Reviewed

It is important to have your plan reviewed to make sure it meets your needs and adjusts to changing tax laws.  In addition, every plan should be reviewed at a minimum of every three years.  The law may change, your fiduciaries may change (the people you have selected to manage your assets if you are not here), or the law may have changed.

Create a legacy that lasts!

Kristina Hess Haymes

San Diego Estate Planning lawyer