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Preston Estate Planning, APLC Preston Estate Planning has 40+ years of experience protecting families and legacies. Contact us today! Preston Estate Planning, A.P.L.C.

Our mission is to ensure peace of mind with specialized estate planning solutions. For informational purposes only, nothing below is legal advice. is a full service estate planning law firm that has been in practice for over 40 years. As California State Bar Certified Specialists in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law, we pride ourselves on using our considerable knowledge and expertise to protect families by preserving their assets, for them and their posterity. While other estate planning law firms primarily focus on avoiding probate, Preston Estate Planning takes on additional challenges facing families such as disability problems, minimizing the capital gains tax dilemma, and making sure assets stay in the family. Our goal is to provide you with the same level of protection and service that we provide to our own families.

10/15/2026

Inherited your spouse’s retirement account? Your backup beneficiaries may no longer be listed. 📄

In this video, we explain why beneficiary designations may not automatically carry over when a retirement account is transferred after a spouse’s passing.

We also discuss why reviewing and updating those designations is an important step in making sure your estate plan reflects your wishes. ⚖️

Have you checked who’s listed as the beneficiary on your retirement accounts?

10/14/2026

Naming a beneficiary on your bank account may seem easier, but it can create problems for your trustee. 💳

If all the money goes directly to beneficiaries, the trust may not have enough funds to cover taxes, bills, or final expenses.

Making sure your trust has sufficient funds available is an important part of estate planning. ⚖️

10/13/2026

Your checking account may not hold much money, but it could be one of the most important assets in your trust. 💳

If you become incapacitated, your trustee may need access to that account to keep your bills paid.

Keeping it properly titled can make a big difference. ⚖️

10/08/2026

Why does your trust include provisions for things you don’t even own? 📄

You may not have a business today, but you could inherit one, or your beneficiaries could start one later.

Including powers that are never needed isn’t a problem. Leaving out a power your trustee eventually needs can be. ⚖️

10/07/2026

Adding someone to your bank account for convenience can create problems you never intended. 💳

The account could end up going to the wrong person and may no longer be available to the trust for expenses and bills.

A better approach is to keep the account in the trust and use a silent partner trustee instead. 📄⚖️

10/06/2026

Why can an inherited home sometimes be sold with little or no capital gains tax? 🏠

It comes down to something called a “step-up in cost basis.”

When a qualifying step-up applies, the property’s cost basis is adjusted to its value at the date of death. So if the home is sold soon afterward for approximately that same value, there may be little or no taxable gain.

But the step-up and proving the property’s value are two different things. If you keep the home for years before selling it, a date-of-death appraisal can become important for determining how much the property appreciated after you inherited it.

That’s why understanding the new cost basis matters before deciding what to do with inherited property. ⚖️

10/02/2026

Distributing 100% of a trust might feel like the finish line - until another bill arrives. 💸

Medical bills can show up later. Taxes may still be owed. A CPA may need to prepare final tax returns. Property tax issues or other expenses can also appear after distributions have already been made.

If the trustee has already distributed everything, they may be left trying to recover money from beneficiaries who may have already spent it.

That’s why keeping an appropriate reserve for anticipated expenses can be an important part of wrapping up a trust. The amount isn’t one-size-fits-all — it depends on the trust, expected taxes, outstanding bills, and other potential costs.

10/01/2026

It might seem like an innocent shortcut: move trust money into your personal account temporarily because it’s easier to manage. 💳

But mixing personal funds with trust funds can create serious problems for a trustee.

If a formal accounting is requested, every dollar may need to be traced — where it came from, where it went, and what it was used for. What felt like a harmless convenience can suddenly raise questions about commingling, self-dealing, or even embezzlement.

The safer approach? Keep trust funds completely separate, maintain detailed records, and use reimbursements when appropriate.

Clean records can prevent a lot of unnecessary problems later. ⚖️

09/30/2026

One of the fastest ways to create tension during trust administration? Going silent 📵

When beneficiaries don’t hear from the trustee, they may start wondering whether information is being withheld or something is happening behind the scenes - even when nothing is actually wrong.

Sometimes there simply isn’t much to report. The house may still be for sale, paperwork may be pending, or everyone may be waiting on a third party. But even a short update can make a major difference.

A quick email or text explaining what’s happening can help keep beneficiaries informed and prevent unnecessary suspicion from turning into a much bigger conflict ⚖️

09/29/2026

Leaving someone out of your trust isn’t necessarily the same as legally disinheriting them. 📄

A specific disinheritance provision is designed to prevent that person from inheriting even if the other named beneficiaries are no longer able to receive the estate.

An omission is different. The person simply isn’t named as a primary beneficiary, but depending on the circumstances, they could potentially inherit later if the people who were named are no longer there.

That distinction can matter when deciding not just who inherits first, but what should happen if circumstances change.

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