How can I get a copy of someone’s California Will?
On Tuesday’s Word On Wealth radio show, www.KPRZ.com, I answered the following questions:
Q: How can I get a copy of someone’s California Will?
A: Wills are required to be filed 30 days after the death of the Testator (the person who made and signed the will). The Will gets filed in the courthouse where the person lived. If there is no Will filed with the court and you think the decedent had a Will, you will need to do some investigating with the family to see if it can be found. To transfer assets valued over $150,000 or any real property valued over $50,000, there will need to be a probate procedure started. Probate is a long court process designed to change title of property into the beneficiary’s name.
Q: Is the Trust filed with the court?
A: No. Not unless the trust is part of a dispute or the Court has been asked to give instructions.
Q: Can I get a copy of the Trust?
A: Yes. If you are beneficiary or are otherwise named or mentioned in the trust. (example: you are named as successor trustee)
9 tasks every TRUSTEE is required to do:
1 – Invest and manage the assets
2 – Pay for health, education, and maintenance of minor beneficiaries, as required.
3 – Prepare and file income tax returns for Trust and Decedent, as required.
4 – Notify creditors by publication.
5 – Notify Department of Health Services.
6 – Prepare and get approval of an accounting.
7 – Distribute assets – change titles, etc.
8 – Terminate the trusteeship at the appropriate time
9 – Close the Trust
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GQ
Money and Trusts, Frequently Asked Questions
Money and Trusts, FAQ
Marty Schneider, the Retirement Professor, asked me questions the following questions on our radio show today:
What happens to money outside of the Trust when the trust creator dies?
The money must be transferred to the Trust but may require court orders to make the transfer. Smaller amounts of money can be transferred through the use of Affadavits.
How can you make sure that life insurance is in the Trust?
You can look in our your original policy or ask the insurance administrator or company to provide that information.
How can you make sure the bank accounts are in the Trust?
The account must refer to the trust or to the Trustee or it is probably not in the trust. Ask the bank for written proof that it is in the trust.
What do I need to take to the bank to prove that I have a Trust?
You will need to take evidence that the Trust exists. The best thing to take is the Trust Certification but if you were not provided with a Trust Certification, you should be Okay if you take your entire trust binder to the bank.
Who should we name a Successor Trustee?
If you have no famil
y members or people you trust here in the country, you could select someone from a reputable fiduciary organization like the Professional Fiduciary Association of California (PFAC). Before selecting one, be sure to ask a lot of questions so you can decide who to choose.
Question you will want to ask before hiring a fiduciary:
Q: What type of services do you provide? Q: Are you insured for errors and omissions? Q; What credentials do you have? Q: What are your office and telephone hours? Q: If there is an emergency after hours, how do I reach you or your staff? Q: What are your internal controls like? Q: How is my confidential information protected? Q: What happens to me if something happens to you? Q: What is your succession plan? Q: Do you have a disaster recovery plan for my data? Q: What fees do you charge and when? Q: If you use other professionals (certified public accountant, attorney, caregiver, etc.), what are their fees? Q: Do you work alone or have a staff? Q: If you have a staff, what types of services do you delegate to them? Q: What is the fee for services provided by your staff? Q: How often will you provide me with an accounting? Q: Can you provide me with references of past or current clients or other professionals you have worked with who I can contact?
My uncle suggested I use a corporate trustee or a bank to be my successor trustee. What is recommended?
Use a fiduciary from PFAC or use Marty Schneider.
NOTE of Caution:
Nothing in this material is designed to provide legal advice. Please seek legal advice from a trusted attorney. If you need legal advice, you can contact me at www. GQLAW.com for a free initial consultation.
GQ
4 Ways Your Trust Can Become Unfunded or Invalidated
With Attorney Gary Quackenbush on WOW (Word on Wealth – www.KPRZ.com – 1210AM radio in San Diego, CA) today we covered:
4 Ways Your Trust Can become Unfunded or Invalidated
Post death funding of a Trust
If the property (house, bank account, car, etc.) is not in the Trust when the Trust creator dies, you’ve got a big mess on your hands. You will probably be required to go to Probate court and have a judge transfer it to the trust. The process is very slow and expensive.
If your property is not in your trust when you die, the Trust could become unfunded or invalidated.
How does this happen?
1 – refinancing – When getting refinancing, the house is typically taken out of the trust and never put back in.
2 – new purchases – New purchases need to be put in trust as soon as they are made.
3 – never funded – Trust preparer failure. If the Trust is self-prepared or created on one of those “do-it-yourself” websites, you may never know about the need to actually transfer your property into the trust.
4 – not prepared properly – or self prepared with errors or misunderstandings or even poor assumptions.
What can be done to fix the problem?
1 – A court proceeding referred to as a “Heggstad Petition” can be filed to get a court order to transfer the property into the Trust
2 – Full Probate Petition to transfer all assets to the Trust.
What happens if the Trustee is not living up to the fiduciary standard as Trustee?
Well, you can’t just “shake if off” (in the words of Taylor Swift), the Trustee can and must be held accountable for how they are handling the trust. Being a Trustee is not an easy job, but the way it is performed must meet a very high “fiduciary standard” or else the Trustee will have to reimburse the Trust for errors which cost the trust money or lost opportunities.
The trustee is a Quarterback – not a do-it-all person. The Trustee needs to delegate appropriately and hire the right professionals.
Please be sure to visit www.GQLAW.com to get more information on this topic.
GQ
5 Daily Habits for Success
5 Daily Habits for Success
“Motivation gets you started. Habit keeps you going” – Jim Rohn
Along with the theme of our most recent post on time management, let’s consider some important habits of successful individuals, suggested by SUCCESS magazine columnist Kimanzi Constable.
1. Successful people plan out their day the night before
Without a plan, how can you get where you want to go? Planning is essential to making sure you’re staying on track to doing what you want to do and becoming who you want to be.
2. Successful people read books to get inspired
Dr Seuss wrote: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Reading allows an individual to learn lessons through the experience and wisdom of others, without having to suffer the pain of unnecessary trial and error.
3. Successful people make their health a priority
Physical health engenders mental, emotional and even spiritual well-being. So make it a priority because it has far reaching effects!
4. Successful people don’t get distracted by what other people are doing
While learning from others’ examples is a sign of wisdom, a “keeping up with the Joneses” mentality will keep you on a path of followership when what successful people exhibit is leadership.
5. Successful people live each day as if it were the last
If today ended in the sun not rising again, what would you wish you would have done? This, most likely, isn’t going to be something you missed doing at the office. It’s more likely that it has something to do with time spent with loved ones, service to others and your inner character. Keeping sight of what’s most important to you, will enable you to live a life of meaning, fulfillment and joy.
To finalize, a Chinese proverb: “Habits are cobwebs at first, cables at last.”
All our best to you as you develop habits of success.
Time Management
Time Management
Time management is truly a fundamental “make or break” in the life of anyone. The wise use of time produces powerful results and the misuse of time can be devastating. Today, we’ll provide some tips on how to manage this invaluable and wasting (constantly diminishing) resource.
1. Roles and Goals
The first step in time management is to understand your roles and goals as an individual. Take a minute to write down each of your roles: husband/wife, father/mother, employee, boss, volunteer, student, coach, etc. Experts recommend having no more than 6-7 roles in fear of becoming spread too thin. Now, once you’ve established your critical roles, write down two to three goals for each role. These goals should guide all of your time management.
2. Conduct a Time Analysis
Take three days and write down everything you’ve done for each 30 minutes. At the end of the time period, tally up the hours spent on each task. Does your time allocation match your roles and goals? If not, make some adjustments!
3. Scheduling
There are three main scheduling times that a person should emphasize. Monthly/quarterly, weekly and daily. Making sure to plan what you do in varied time segments is essential to making sure you accomplish the most important tasks that will help you reach your longer term goals. With your day-to-day scheduling, making an “ABC” prioritized to-do list is key. A’s must get done, B’s should get done and C’s would be nice to get done that very day.
4. Eat the Frog
Finally, a question. If you woke up every morning and the first thing you did was eat a live frog, would anything else you encounter for the rest of the day be worse than that? Apply that principle and pick your biggest, hairiest, nastiest most difficult to-do and conquer it first thing in the morning. This will give you the momentum you need to tackle the rest of your goal oriented tasks and will guide you on the path of fulfillment and accomplishment.
We wish you the best!
What You Should Know about the Child Tax Credit
What You Should Know about the Child Tax Credit
While many aspects of tax filing, and tax season in general, are a big drag, there is one aspect of tax filing that many look forward to- their refund. For the most part, refund money isn’t “free money” from the government, its money you overpaid during the year but even so, getting some dollars back in your bank account is never a bad thing.
For parents of minor children, the Child Tax Credit is often to thank for taking at least a little off the top of your tax bill and, hopefully, adding a bit more to your refund. The Child Tax Credit, a nice perk of parenthood, is often misunderstood. Here is the break down of the qualifications and limitations of the Child Tax Credit from the IRS to help you better understand how it all works.
To learn about other tax tips for parents head over to our post “Child Tax Credit: The Cost of Raising a Child”
Child Tax Credit
Qualifications
- Age. Children must be under 17 at the end of 2015.
- Relationship. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother or half sister or a descendant of any of these individuals (grandchild, nice, nephew, etc.). Adopted children qualify as long as they are lawfully placed with you for legal adoption.
- Support. The child must not have provided for more than half their support for the year. (Think teenagers who work and earn quite a bit of money.)
- Dependent. The child must be a dependent that you claim on your federal tax return.
- Joint Return. The child cannot file a joint return for the year unless they are only filing a return to claim a refund.
- Citizenship. The child must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or a U.S. resident alien.
- Residence. In most cases, the child must have lived with you for more than half of 2015.
Limitations
- The Child Tax Credit is subject to income limitations. The limits may reduce or eliminate your refund depending on filing status and income. You must reduce the maximum credit amount ($1000 per child) if your adjusted gross income is more than $110,000 for married filing jointly, $75,000 for single head of household or qualifying widow(er), $55,000 for married filing separately.
Read the full article “Five Things You Should Know about the Child Tax Credit” on IRS.gov.
For additional, detailed information about preparing returns using the Child Tax Credit check out IRS Publications 972.
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This information is not a substitute for the legal advice of a professional. Tax laws change frequently. Please contact a licensed tax professional for help with your particular tax situation. Gary Quackenbush and his team of tax experts would be happy to help you with any questions or concerns. Please call our office at 858-549-8600 or request and appointment through the CONTACT US tab.
I got $10,000 for my college graduation. Do I have to tell the IRS?
On the Word on Wealth Radio show tonight (www.KPRZ.com and 1210AM San Diego, CA) The Retirement Professor (Marty Schneider) and I discussed the question –
If I got $10,000 for my college graduation. Do I have to tell the IRS?
The answer may surprise you: NO. Gifts under $14,000 per year do not get reported to the IRS or the state of California. They are not taxable. That’s right – not taxable.
Do these gifts need to be in cash? No. Gifts that are excluded from reporting and from tax can be any type of gift valued @ $14,000 or less. The gift can be a partial interest in a asset, like stocks, bonds, a timeshare, home, rental, partnership, or corporation.
Why give gifts: gifts reduce estate size of the giver and gives the asset growth to receiver of the gift. For example: Grampa gives $14,000 to grandson in the form of Roth IRA – a fantastic gift. The Roth will grow until the grandson’s retirement and could be worth a fortune by then.
Gary A. Quackenbush, California Attorney
NOTICE: Nothing in this article is legal advice and you may NOT rely on it for any legal positions or arguments. So, check it out first. I’d be happy to discuss your individual situation in a free initial consultation.
What’s so bad about Probate?
What’s so bad about Probate?
The following questions were posed to me on my radio show today:
What’s so bad about Probate? and What is it and why do we want to avoid it?
First, what is Probate? Probate is a court proceeding used when estate planning is done wrong or not at all.
Second, what’s so bad about it? Here’s why you want to AVOID Probate.
1 – Probate is very slow (1 to 3 years) to get money to the beneficiaries.
2 – Expensive – 6% of gross estate. Six percent is a huge chunk of change for anyone to have to pay.
3 – The probate process will allow money to go to beneficiaries who are only 18 years old. Not many 18 year olds can manage all their parents money effectively. Would you want your 18 or 20 year old to have access to everything you have earned over 20 or 30 or 40 years? – NO WAY – So, to control the pay-outs to 18 year olds, or any young beneficiary, use a Trust.
4 – Probate does not handle money for beneficiaries who have special needs. The State can require that any inherited money be spent before the State will provide health care of a special needs person.
5 – Money passed through the Probate process does not keep money away from creditors of beneficiaries.
In summary, there are many answers to the question “What’s so bad about Probate?” and one simple solution: A well written Living Trust. A well written Living Trust can prevent all 5 problems listed above, so why don’t you have one? Get started today!
Gary A. Quackenbush, California Attorney
NOTICE: Nothing in this article is legal advice and you may NOT rely on it for any legal positions or arguments. So, check it out first. I’d be happy to discuss your individual situation in a free initial consultation.
Fake Charities: Dirty Dozen Tax Scams 2016
Fake Charities: Dirty Dozen Tax Scams 2016
Did you know that not all charities are truly charitable? Its a terrible and twisted concept but its reality. There are groups that pretend to be charitable, drawing you in and encouraging you to donate money and give your personal information with plans to scam you. The IRS recently warned tax payers to be aware of such fake charities in its recent update about its Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for the 2016 filing season.
“Fake charities set up by scam artists to steal your money or personal information are a recurring problem,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “Taxpayers should take the time to research organizations before giving their hard-earned money.”
The list of the Dirty Dozen Tax Scams is released by the IRS each year and although the tax scams can happen at any time of the year, they are especially prevalent during tax season, from January through April. Individuals and groups who are guilty of tax scams like posing as fake charities or stealing identities (read about it here) are subject to serious penalties and even criminal prosecution in some cases. IRS Criminal Investigation works with the Department of Justice to make sure that criminals are caught, scams are stopped and tax payers are protected.
The IRS offers these tips to help identify and avoid fake charities:
- Be Wary of Names
- Be wary of charities with names that are similar to familiar or nationally known organizations. Some phony charities use names or websites that sound or look like those of respected, legitimate organizations. IRS.gov has a search feature, Exempt Organizations Select Check, which allows people to find legitimate, qualified charities to which donations may be tax-deductible. Legitimate charities will provide their Employer Identification Numbers (EIN), if requested, which can be used to verify their legitimacy through EO Select Check. It is advisable to double check using a charity’s EIN.
- Protect Your Information
- Don’t give out personal financial information, such as Social Security numbers or passwords to anyone who solicits a contribution from you. Scam artists may use this information to steal your identity and money. People use credit card numbers to make legitimate donations but please be very careful when you are speaking with someone who has called you and you have not yet confirmed they are calling from a legitimate charity.
- Don’t Send or Give Cash
- Don’t give or send cash. For security and tax record purposes, contribute by check or credit card or another way that provides documentation of the gift. (source)
The IRS also warns about fake charities that surface following big natural disasters. Individuals or groups take advantage of the compassionate feelings of most tax payers after a natural disaster and contact people in an attempt gather personal and financial information and/or collect money from people who are trying to do good.
Be sure to protect yourself this tax season, and always, by double checking your charities before donating or giving personal information.
Three Common Trust & Estate Planning Mistakes
Three Common Trust & Estate Planning Mistakes