Palm Springs Law Blog

Life in the Golden State offers many joys and opportunities. The chance to build assets that support your retirement goals and help provide for your children and grandchildren is perhaps one of the greatest of those opportunities. 

However, building up your assets is only one step toward the larger goal of estate planning. It is equally important to recognize the potential threats to your assets and understand what the proper precautions to protect them look like.

Understand the 3 Biggest Threats to Your Assets

The old saying, “the best defense is a good offense,” is a good attitude to have when it comes to protecting your investments.

Asset protection is typically sought out by high-net-worth individuals concerned about creditors or lawsuits dismantling the assets they’ve worked so hard to build. Not everyone needs the added layer of security that asset protection provides, but if you have been considering a wealth defense strategy, putting protections in place may be the right option. 

What is asset protection?

Creating an asset protection plan is like putting up barriers around your wealth that keep both personal and business assets safe from seizure, creditors, litigation, and unfair taxation. 

Asset protection is completely legal in California and is even considered a crucial component of estate planning, especially for individuals with significant wealth. Others who should consider asset protection include the following:

• Homeowners who are upside down on their mortgage

• Anyone with large or recurring amounts of credit card debt

• Anyone in a high-liability profession, such as a doctor or lawyer

If you are an investor, a doctor, or an entrepreneur, you may already be concerned about the complexities of estate planning.
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The U.S. is a litigious country, with over

When someone writes their will, it is assumed that the document they create is representative of their final wishes. However, there are ways to challenge its accuracy.

The person who creates a document must be mentally and legally capable of making decisions for themselves and must not be under coercion to draft their will in a manner that benefits one party over another. 

Therefore, if a potential inheritor feels as though the will’s creator wasn’t in sound mind (or within their legal rights) when they made the will, they can challenge the document on the grounds of incompetence.

Challenging for Competency

In California,

Blended families are the new normal, thanks to changing societal norms concerning divorce and remarriage. Though once a rarity, the “yours, mine, and ours” scenario is now commonplace.

While navigating new family dynamics is never easy, it’s not unusual for adults to come to love their stepchildren just as much as their biological children.

Life is fleeting, and none of us know what can happen tomorrow, but having discussions about passing away can be overwhelming and too tough to handle. Many people find them morbid, unable to handle the thought of losing their cherished family members and friends. However, if you pass away without putting your affairs in order, you could leave your loved ones in a terrible place. 

Not only will they have to go through a stressful probate process and potentially fight a range of claims against your estate, but they might end up turning against each other. That can be particularly heartbreaking in

Outstanding debt can put a serious damper on your peace of mind, especially with regard to protecting your home. Fortunately, there are certain steps you can take to ensure your home is protected from creditors, both now and once ownership of the property passes on to your heirs.  

If creditors coming after your home is a point of serious concern for you, your best option is to consult an experienced estate planning attorney about which arrangements can keep your house and other assets safe going forward.

How California Creditors Can Take Your Home

In the state of California, creditors can seize your home in a number of ways. Lawsuits and foreclosures are the most common among these.

Managing finances can be a complicated matter for anyone. When you have a loved one who’s irresponsible with money, it can be even more challenging. Fortunately, estate planning allows you to consider potential spending issues and create a plan that supports your loved ones while also protecting them.

Though they are often lumped in with the things handled in an estate plan, you do not need an estate plan to prepare healthcare proxies. Where an estate plan addresses how you want your financial affairs handled after your death, a healthcare proxy (also known as an advance healthcare directive) provides instructions for medical providers while you are still alive.

Regardless of your age or current well-being, advance healthcare directives help your family and doctors provide you with the medical care you would prefer; moreover, they provide your loved ones with a sense of guidance, relieving them of the many pressures and conflicts that arise after a traumatic event.

The Purpose of Advance Healthcare Directives

In the state of California, advance healthcare directives serve several key purposes:

Appointing a Healthcare Agent

Advance healthcare directives include power of attorney, a grant of authority that gives your agent the power to make medical decisions on your behalf. That said, select your healthcare agent carefully, as doctors must act on their instructions.
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Medical emergencies are usually the last thing that people want to think about in everyday life. But having a plan for any situation can provide you with invaluable protection and peace of mind. Writing out your wishes also makes it easier for your loved ones to care for you, even if you are unable to make decisions on your own. 

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If you've ever spent time in a hospital, you may have heard someone mention an “advance directive.” An advance directive is a legal document that outlines a person's wishes for emergency or end-of-life medical care. Medical directives should be made in advance of a medical emergency that makes an incapacitated person unable to communicate. 

Thinking about end-of-life scenarios can be emotionally challenging, and many myths surround advance healthcare directives. Understanding the myths and misunderstandings about advance healthcare directives in California can help you make informed decisions.