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Our primary focus is helping our clients create an estate plan that avoids Probate and saves money, time, and hassles. At CBM, you do not receive generic estate planning documents; we provide you with an estate planning portfolio that will give you peace of mind. We only practice a few areas of law, but we do them very well and at reasonable prices. With two locations in Simi Valley and Glendale to serve you our attorneys at CBM have helped numerous clients create quality, personalized estate plans that meet their specific goals and needs. We also ensure that you know the importance of correctly funding your Trust and, if needed, assist you with the funding. We have helped many Trustees with the Administration of their loved one’s Trust to ensure they properly manage the trust assets, comply with the state laws, and understand and adhere to the terms of the Trust to avoid any problems or unnecessary litigation.
Your Revocable Living Trust is the foundation of your estate plan, with instructions for your care, the care of your family, and if you become disabled, for the distribution of your assets upon your death. Your estate plan includes many items besides a will that will assist your family and you.
Everyone still needs a Will. The Will clarifies that your assets are distributed according to your Trust’s terms. It will also indicate that any assets not in your Trust at your passing, should “pour” into your Trust at your death. A Will is only enforceable at your passing; therefore, it does not offer protection if you are ever incapacitated and need other estate planning documents.
As an attorney, I believe this is the most important legal document in your estate planning portfolio. If you are incapacitated, your power of attorney-appointed agent acts for you. Your agent is authorized to transfer property to your Revocable Living Trust, make withdrawals from your retirement assets, or do anything you want your agent to do per your requests.
You are giving your agent the right to sign your name. Allowing them to sue on your behalf, do your taxes, withdraw funds from retirement accounts, hire people to take care of you, apply for government benefits, and more.
You will always make your own medical decisions. However, suppose you are incapacitated, unresponsive, or in a coma. In that case, you need to designate a health care agent to make medical decisions for you if you cannot express your wishes or make the decisions yourself. In addition, your Advance Health Care Directive authorizes your agent to obtain copies of your medical records.
The objective of the death plan is to avoid probate, provide privacy and save time and money associated with the transferring of assets at the time of someone’s death. A Trust is a way to ensure that everything is how you wish your assets to be handled. A Trust allows you to decide who benefits from your estate and how your estate is distributed.
The objective of the Life Plan is also to avoid probate in the event you are ever incapacitated. There are several legal documents everyone should have in place to avoid a Conservatorship. You should nominate someone you trust to take care of you, manage your assets and make medical decisions if you are incapacitated.
You will need a Durable Power of Attorney (“DPA”) and an Advance Health Care Directive (“AHCD”). The DPA allows someone else to sign your name and gives them the power to manage your financial affairs. The DPA is usually not effective until you become incapacitated. The AHCD nominates someone to make a medical decision if you cannot talk to the doctors. The AHCD should be effective immediately so your agent can make medical decisions for you if you are in an accident or unable to speak for yourself.
If you own real property (a house or any other real estate), have minor children, incapacitated children, have assets worth $184,500.00 or more you should have a trust, Once the trust starts “living” it may continue living after you die.
Receive a checklist of what you will need.
Use our Probate Fee Calculator to find out the estimated costs.
As your life changes, so might your estate plan. You may need to update your Trust throughout your life. We help your Trust stay up-to-date by creating amendments to the Trust that ensure your goals continue to be met. That is one of the many benefits of having a Trust, and it is amendable, revocable, or can be restated at any time. Another benefit of having a Trust is that your Trust is valid in every state. If you move, your Trust goes with you.
CBM Estate and Trust Law helps create trusts to ensure that assets are appropriately managed and held for the future use of their designated beneficiaries. A Trust holds your assets to pay for necessary medical, educational, and health-related expenses for the Trust’s beneficiaries. A Trust exists for a certain period, and courts require that a trustee be chosen to administer and be responsible for the management of the Trust. Sometimes trusts are used to avoid the probate process and/or to minimize estate and income taxes. Your Trust is central to your Estate Plan, but you will also need other vital legal documents.
**Note: if you work for a company that offers MetLife be sure to inform us, as we may be able to prepare most of your estate planning documents at no cost to you. Please be aware that our Private Clients receive additional documents and services not covered by MetLife, which you can add and pay out of pocket.
Receive a complimentary 1-hour consultation with one of our compassionate attorneys to discuss how we can help you.
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CBM Estate and Trust Law
Carmen B. Marquez, P.C.
Seminars are held in our Simi Valley Office on the last Saturday of every month.
At CBM we never charge potential clients for the first 60-minute initial consultation whether or not we are retained. However, we will require a nonrefundable deposit if the potential client requires a second consultation before we are hired. We will apply 50% of the nonrefundable deposit toward the price of the work to be performed on behalf of the client.
CBM also do not charge for follow-up phone calls, emails, and assistance to help our private clients properly fund their trust for up to three months after they execute their Trust. This includes working with our client’s financial advisors (as long as we have our client’s consent) to ensure the trust is properly funded.