Hermosa Beach Estate Planning Attorneys

A comprehensive estate plan enables you to protect your own health and affairs if you are incapacitated, lets you protect your assets and their value for your loved ones, and minimizes the time, stress, and money your loved ones have to spend in probate proceedings. Having effective and experienced Hermosa Beach estate planning attorneys by your side makes it easier to create an enforceable and useful estate plan that you can rely on.

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About Wickers, Wicker & Admans LLP: Helping You Protect Your Legacy

The attorneys at Wickers, Wicker & Admans LLP, have over 25 years of collective legal experience. From the Sand Section to Hermosa Valley, locals count on us to protect their legacy and build their estate plans. Our firm is client-focused, bringing dedicated and personalized legal support for individuals and families who want to safeguard their future.

We know it can be hard to face making an estate plan. We want to make it easier for you. When you work with our attorneys, we answer your questions, address your concerns, and take the time to understand your unique goals and intentions for an estate plan. Our firm aims to create lasting relationships because we believe this helps create stronger estate plans. Reach out to learn more about us and set up an initial meeting with compassionate lawyers who care.

Estate Plan Elements in Hermosa Beach

Estate plans are incredibly customizable and can be made to fit the needs of your estate, your personal objectives, the needs of your beneficiaries, and other important factors. You can include many different documents in your estate plan and also tailor the specifics of those documents. Although the specifics can vary, a comprehensive estate plan generally includes documents like:

A Last Will and Testament

Your will is a fundamental part of your estate plan. It does many things, including state:

• The assets in your estate
• Who you want to act as the executor for your estate
• How you want debts in your estate to be paid
• Who the beneficiaries are for assets in your estate
• Instructions for your funeral arrangements
• Your burial and cremation preferences
• Who you prefer as a guardian for your minor children

Only 32% of U.S. adults had a will, according to one poll. Even in a simple estate plan, a will is useful to state your wishes for any of the above issues. In a comprehensive estate plan, wills are still foundational for basic wishes and as a pour-over will to move assets into a trust.

A will typically goes through probate court. Probate is how the state administers and closes a person’s estate after their death. When you live in Hermosa Beach or have property in the area, your estate or that property is generally handled by a local probate court. There are three probate courts in the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles, and the closest to Hermosa Beach is the Metropolitan Courthouse.

Trusts

Trusts are useful tools to safeguard your assets, provide for your loved ones, and keep your estate from entering probate court. Because the trust passes from your ownership to the ownership of a trustee or successor trustee, it does not fall under probate court jurisdiction. Certain trust types also allow for greater protection from creditors and taxes in your life and after your death.

In Hermosa Beach, 89.6% of homes are valued at $1 million or more, and the median household income is $166,442. These are costly and significant assets that are important to safeguard. A trust lets you directly pass these and other assets to your loved ones privately, more quickly, and with less stress than in probate court. Trusts also enable you to state when benefits are distributed and for what reason, giving you more control over how your assets are used.

Of note, if you’re curious about the difference between a will and a trust, both estate planning documents direct property distribution, but a will takes effect only upon death and requires probate. Conversely, a trust operates during someone’s life or after their death, bypasses probate for privacy, and allows for limited asset inclusion.

Powers of Attorney

There are several types of powers of attorney, each allowing you to put someone in charge of key decisions in your life. This includes medical, financial, or legal decisions. A durable power of attorney is used most often in estate plans because these documents go into effect if you are incapacitated.

When you are unable to make important decisions, your appointed power of attorney makes them for you. This lets you protect your own well-being by putting someone you trust in charge and prevents your loved ones from having to campaign for those powers with the court.

Advance Healthcare Directives

This document lets you state your medical treatment and care preferences. You can outline specifics like where you want to get medical care, your religious and spiritual wishes for care, and how to handle end-of-life care.

An advance healthcare directive is often used in tandem with a healthcare power of attorney, which creates a living will. Your healthcare power of attorney can use your stated preferences to guide them in making medical decisions for you.

Beneficiary Designations

With some accounts or policies, you can name a beneficiary of the account directly. This allows the asset to transfer outside of probate without a trust. This is commonly used for retirement accounts, certain bank accounts, life insurance policies, and other assets.

Reasons to Hire an Estate Planning Attorney in Hermosa Beach, California

An attorney can help:

• Create an estate plan that is tailored to your needs,
• Is legally enforceable, and
• Meets your goals during your life and after your death

An attorney understands the legal requirements of an estate plan in California and can help you avoid common errors that people preparing their own plans tend to make. When you work with our firm, we provide ongoing support throughout our time working together.

We can help with specific issues like how you can minimize tax consequences, what you can do to protect your small businesses and other major assets, or what you can do to provide support for your beneficiaries with unique needs. If you’re worried about a family member disputing a will, your attorney can help proactively address the issue.

Hire an Estate Planning Lawyer Serving Hermosa Beach: Connect With Wickers, Wicker, & Admans LLP Today

A well-made estate plan can provide necessary peace of mind. To create a comprehensive estate plan in Hermosa Beach, contact us to schedule a consultation to discuss your goals.