Torrance Trusts and Estates Law Blog

Taking time to stop and think about your plans for the end of your life isn't likely something that you want to do while you're busy living your peak years, but it's important to do it. This will ensure that things end up getting handled exactly as you'd like them to be if anything were to happen to you. While you may think that drafting a will is a one-time process, it's not. It's a document that you'll want to revisit regularly throughout your life.

There are a few different times in your life that you'll want to revisit your will to make sure that it still reflects your final wishes. You'll want to do so after getting married, having a child, if you get divorced or if you start or sell off your own business. You need to revisit this and any other estate documents that you may have if your relationship with a friend or family member turns sour, someone close to you passes away or if your financial situation changes significantly.

Most individuals have never sat down to draft their estate planning documents. Even fewer have been asked to serve as an executor of someone's estate. If you've never done either one of these, then you may know very little about the probate process. You should learn what happens to a decedent's estate during this process though.

The term probate involves the opening of a court case. This usually gets underway when an executor of an estate locates and files a decedent's will with the probate court in the county where that person resided.

If you are currently grieving the loss of a loved one, you will quickly realize that as well as dealing with the emotional aspects of your loss, you will need to deal with the logistical proceedings that are necessary after a person's death. If you have been appointed as the personal representative of the estate, you have the responsibility to oversee the probate process.

The probate process is how all assets that were in the possession of the deceased person at the time of their debt are documented and distributed. If the deceased person left a valid will, this will be used to distribute assets to loved ones. The following is an overview of the key steps in the California probate process.

A number of legal documents can make up an estate plan. However, the mere existence of these documents is not enough to constitute a satisfactory and efficient plan. In fact, any errors in the creation of these documents can render an entire estate plan invalid, thereby negating one's wishes for his or her estate. This is why many individuals turn to legal professionals for assistance. However, when issues with an estate plan arise, individuals need to understand the law and how it applies to their set of circumstances.

One way these issues arise is when an individual's testamentary capacity is drawn into question. In order for a will or trust to be legally valid, it must have been created by an individual who understood the gravity of the decisions made at the time, as well as the consequences of those decisions. Therefore, those who are under the influence of a substance or suffering from a mental illness like dementia may be deemed legally incapacitated for the purposes of creating an estate planning document. It is worth noting, however, that individuals are usually deemed competent to create a will or trust unless proved otherwise.