Law Offices of Christopher B. Johnson

11/01/2023

Wow, maybe we should be careful about who knows what we're inheriting, yikes! I've only seen one case that might come close to this extreme, but receiving an inheritance certainly can stir up some emotions for the people closest to the beneficiary.

The woman was upset after learning he planned to break up with her hours after receiving the inheritance. | iHeart

10/31/2022

With Halloween’s arrival, and the cutest little trick or treaters stopping by the office for Glendora Village’s celebration, I decided it’s about time we brought candy back to the office. It disappeared during Covid, and we all missed it. If you did too, it’s here for you!

03/01/2022

Here's a new law that applies to a situation we often see--family members inheriting a property who then can't agree on what to do with it. It changes the prior law to allow an owner or owners to buy out the others before it gets to a forced sale.

Per the San Bernardino County Bar Association:

AB-633 added the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act as Code of Civil Procedure sec. 874.311, et seq. When there are multiple owners of real property, one or more of the co-owners can bring a partition action to partition by sale or in kind. A partition in kind for real property is extremely difficult, because it is often inequitable or impractical, so oftentimes a sale is ordered and the proceeds are divided equitably. AB-633 addresses a partition of “heirs property,” which is real property in which there is no agreement which governs partition and at least 20% of the owners are relatives or received their ownership interest from a relative, living or deceased.

AB-633 creates a new procedure in a partition of “heir property” in which first the property is appraised. Then, the other title holders are given the opportunity to buy-out the person(s) requesting the partition at the proportionate appraised value. If no-one elects the buy-out, then the property is court orders the property to be sold on the open-market. If the parties do not agree on a real estate broker, then the court will appoint a broker and establish a reasonable commission.

01/27/2022

Make that six years—Chris has been honored with the Super Lawyer designation for 2022. Give us a call and experience our difference for yourself. We can serve you from Pasadena east to Indian Wells, and anywhere in between.

01/17/2021

Nice place to do business! Always happy on Indian Wells work days.

12/03/2020

An advice column in today’s Wall Street Journal reminds us how important gerontologists and care managers can be in finding solutions for our aging parents’ care. The answers can be difficult to find, so an expert, like Mary McDonald Winners st About Senior Solutions, can be a huge help, whether you’re in planning or crisis mode.

Ask Encore: Retirement columnist Glenn Ruffenach also answers a reader’s question about Social Security and delayed retirement credits.

11/18/2020

Homestead exemption alert! The amount of equity in your home that you can protect is set to go up dramatically next year. Currently, the maximums were $75,000 to $175,000, which wouldn't leave you much of a house in California. The new amount will be $300,000, or the median value of houses in your county, up to $600,000.

I'm often asked about the homestead exemption, and whether you need to do anything to protect yourself. In California, it's automatic, so no need to file or record anything. However, recording the homestead declaration gives extra protection when you sell your house voluntarily, rather than an involuntary sale, like a creditor foreclosing to collect their court judgment. So, taking the extra step of recording the declaration makes sense.

This article explains more:

California Assembly Bill AB1885 increases the homestead exemption to a minimum of $300,000 and a maximum of $600,000 depending on median county home prices.

07/25/2020

Another year, another Super Lawyer award! Thank you to my peers for recognizing us 2017-2021!

04/08/2020

We, like so many of you, are doing a lot of client (and potential client) meetings by Zoom now. I think my office background looks pretty good, but here are some backgrounds for your Zoom calls in case your place is a bit untidy:

Want a better video chat background? Try these options, carefully selected to look sufficiently realistic.

02/24/2020

My interview by Lee Cuellar, Most Architecturally Knowledgeable Realtor I Know, is up! Perfect for your commute.

Christopher B. Johnson focuses his practice on the areas of trusts, wills, estate planning, probate and trust litigation and elder law. He is based in Pasade...

12/20/2019

For many years, we've advised our clients about "stretch IRAs"--the ability to have their heirs delay distributions of inherited retirement accounts over the beneficiaries' lifetimes. It looks like that's coming to an end, so reviewing your retirement accounts and beneficiary designations is a good New Year's resolution for 2020.

Inside the spending legislation the Senate passed are the most significant changes in more than a decade to the nation’s retirement system.

10/29/2019

What’s the largest amount that can pass to your beneficiaries without a probate? It’s been $150,000 for many years, and was only $60,000 when I started practicing in 1994. There’s a new bill that raises that to $166,250 next year, and raises it for inflation after that. Beyond those limits, in most cases, you should have a trust to avoid probate.