Legacy Estate & Business Law

11/04/2025

Will vs Trust in California and Arizona: Generally, a Will in either state has to go through the probate process if someone owns property over $185,000 (CA) or $75,000 (AZ) and probate is not a quick process - it can take 1-2+ years from beginning to end. In California, the attorney who handles the probate gets a statutory fee for his/her work, and the personal representative is entitled to the same amount. An example of this fee: someone passed away with a home worth $800,000. The statutory fee would be $19,000 each to the attorney and personal representative. It doesn't matter if there is still a mortgage - it is the actual value of the home. In Arizona, attorneys are paid for the work they do at their hourly rate, so a probate could cost thousands of dollars depending on the size of the estate. How to avoid probate? A revocable living trust in either AZ or CA can be one of the best legal tools for someone to prevent their family from having to go through the hassle of a probate and the high fees, at a much smaller cost! It could be a great Christmas gift for your family members this year!!

10/22/2025

10/22/2025

The Worse Nightmare to Happen:

Imagine if you and your spouse went out for dinner one night and on your way home, you were hit by another car/truck and both of you were killed – the worse nightmare coming true – and you have young children at home with a babysitter. What happens? Do you have instructions and legal documents prepared so that your desired plan to take care of them, emotionally and financially, would spring into action immediately? Do you have some form of a “kids protection plan”? Do you have a trusted person who could take charge? We don’t think this scenario could happen to us, but it does. Let’s talk about what should and can be done – book a complementary consultation at munierlegacycenter.com and get the facts!

10/21/2025

Can You Trust Yourself in Knowing What is Needed by “Do-It-Yourself” Estate Planning?
Would you trust yourself to know exactly what to do by going through an online service to get your estate planning documents drafted? Would you know what questions to ask and how to answer them yourself? Many people get a Revocable Living Trust in place as their estate plan due to the high cost of probate (and the length of time it takes). If you wanted to get a trust, do you know how to fund it? Would you know about other documents you need to make it valid? I had a client that came to me to review his living trust he created online for him and his spouse. He thought by setting this up, he and his spouse would own everything jointly through the joint trust. He did not know that the trust used common terms to keep property in the same status that it existed in before putting property into the trust - and the spouse owned most of their property in her name! He basically disinherited himself automatically because he did not know the law and did not consult with a lawyer. Plans should help your family stay out of court and avoid conflict!!

10/18/2025

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/ZyZsZZU/pettrusts2025?source_type=fbpo&source_id=ae503b6c-d5d9-4452-9a1e-5aad98e1eafd

Pet Trusts can be created in your estate plan to describe care in detail that you want for your pets

10/18/2025

Goal for your estate plan: Keep your loved ones out of COURT and CONFLICT when you're gone - As a Personal Family Lawyer we can help!

10/17/2025

PROTECTING YOUR KIDS IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU:
If you are a single parent with minor children at home, do you have a plan in the event that something happened to you and you were no longer around to take care of them? We never like to even think of this most awful thing happening, but it does, and the best thing a single parent (or parents in general) should have is a Kids Protection Plan in place so that the children will be cared for immediately and legally by a trusted family member or friend. This negates the need of having to go to court for a guardianship (which takes a lot of time) and what happens to the kids in this "up in the air" devastating period of time? Want to discuss options? DM me!