Looking for an estate planning attorney in Berkeley, CA? It isn’t always a comfortable topic to discuss, but it is important that you and your family have a plan if you were to pass. While it might be hard to think about your family moving on without you, it’s important to safeguard your legacy with estate planning.
Estate planning also protects your family financially when you’re no longer around to provide, and it allows someone that you choose to make certain decisions on your behalf concerning finances and medical decisions.
Our personalized estate planning approach aims to understand your situation and aspirations while developing a strategy to efficiently pass on your assets, knowledge, and values to your loved ones when you’re gone.
The truth is that probate can make your family’s lives harder. Not only is it time-consuming but also costly, and this is the last thing your loved ones need as they grieve. Fortunately, you can ensure they are well cared for with an estate plan.
The act of planning and making arrangements for the administration and distribution of your estate while you are still alive is what is known as estate planning. It is designed to be applicable in the event that you become unable to make these decisions yourself or pass away.
The following elements are typically involved in estate planning:
This is considered a legal, written statement of your desires regarding the distribution of your wealth after your passing. This can help you hand over your most prized possessions to the ones you love with dignity.
A power of attorney that is considered to be “durable” is one that generally lasts until a person’s demise or the termination of the document. A durable power of attorney, the duration of which needs to be expressly specified, continues to be effective even if you become incompetent and are unable to make medical or financial decisions.
This estate planning document places the assets you choose into a trust fund. One of the most popular reasons people choose trust funds is to avoid probate.
If you are ever in a situation where you are unable to make medical decisions on your own, this document will be used to outline how you want your medical care to be handled.
An advance directive informs your family members and the medical team about the type of care you prefer or the person you want to make crucial decisions on your behalf if you become incapable of making those decisions yourself.
If you’re looking for a trusted advisor in Berkeley, CA to help you plan ahead and ensure that your family doesn’t face hardship if something happens to you, you can turn to us. You can book a free consultation to discuss your unique situation before making any commitments.
Our approach offers assurance that your wishes will be carried out, whether you are looking to develop a new estate plan or amend an existing one.
In short, yes. Death is unavoidable. An estate plan protects not only your family and assets, but will also give you peace of mind that your assets will be properly managed when you are gone.
An estate plan created by Von Rock Law is a solution to protecting and preserving your estate in the case that you die or become incapacitated. It contains the following legal documents:
A legal document that places some or all of your assets in the control of a trust during your lifetime
A legal declaration of a person’s wishes regarding the disposal of their property or estate after death
A durable power of attorney refers to a power of attorney which typically remains in effect until the death of the principal or until the document is revoked. A durable power of attorney, the durability of which must be explicitly stated, remains valid even in the event the principal is unable to make personal decisions due to incapacity.
A legal document that explains how you want medical decisions about you to be made if you cannot make the decisions yourself. An advance directive lets your health care team and loved ones know what kind of health care you want, or who you want to make decisions for you when you can’t.
An estate plan not only ensures your family and assets are protected in the case you die or become incapacitated, but it also helps your estate avoid being subjected to probate, a long and costly process.
Our Custom Estate Plan is a comprehensive trust-based estate plan which is appropriate for most estates including those with minor children or other minor beneficiaries, for those requiring protections for beneficiaries and for blended families. This estate plan works toward eliminating probate court proceedings, appointing successors to manage the Trust after your death, and directs the distribution of your assets.
One 30 minute consultation meeting by telephone, video conference or in person
Revocable Living Trust
Certification of Living Trust
Last Will & Testament **
Durable Power of Attorney **
Advanced Health Care Directive **
Authorization of Release of Medical Records (“HIPAA”) **
Assignment of Personal Property **
Personal Property Memorandum **
Trust Transfer Deed (one property)
Recording Deed with county recorder
One opportunity to request edits to above documents with respect to client-provided information
Recording fees included
Preliminary Change of Ownership Report
Final signing meeting
Complete instructions regarding plan
Notary fees included
Personalized estate planning binder with all original documents
Digital PDF copies of your entire plan
Additional Deeds with ancillary documents and recording fees begin at $1000 for California properties and for out of state US properties, subject to confirmation of non-California recording fees.
Up to five hours with our staff for emails, phone calls, zooms or in person meetings to address your questions regarding the maintenance of your estate plan, funding, coordination with agents, potential amendments, family meetings or other ongoing trust maintenance concerns.
A 5% discount on billable matters for which you may further retain us, such as drafting additional plan documents and amendments, or for another practice area.
Deluxe custom estate plans are appropriate for individuals with substantial assets and sophisticated planning needs, and who require estate tax planning features for estates exceeding the estate tax threshold of $12,060,000 for individuals or $24,120,000 in community property for married couples. These plans include all of the offerings of the Custom Estate plan, but will also address such circumstances such as complicated blended families, citizenship issues, multiple real estate holdings, multiple beneficiary designations, integrated special needs trusts, or otherwise more sophisticated distribution plans.
We are offer a college care plan that will allow parents to still be able to act for their 18+ children for medical, financial and legal purposes, and to distribute the child’s assets should the child pre-decease the parent. This plan includes a Durable Power of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directive, HIPAA and Simple Will which identifies not more than two beneficiaries with outright inheritance. Further, this plan includes a generic FERPA Consent Form that will authorize parents to communicate with a college regarding the student’s classes, transcripts, grades and more. Many educational institutions will have their own forms for this Consent which may be required, but if not, our standard form should be accepted.
This plan includes a 30 minute consultation and the cost of online notary fees arranged by this office. Digital and paper copies of the plan documents will be provided.
Estate Plan revisions are provided on an hourly basis and estimates of the projected cost are provided to the client before work commences. Simple revisions to Estate Plans are often in the 2 – 3 hour range, with more complex revisions taking longer, bearing in mind that each circumstance is unique.
PLEASE NOTE – We will not amend plans that we did not draft. We will prepare re-statements of Trusts and new documents for planning documents we did not generate.