Estate Planning
South Bay Bar Association “Ask a Lawyer” Program May 1, 2014
Members of the South Bay Bar Association will be available to answer your legal questions at no charge in celebration of National Law Day. The Law Firm of Bezaire, Ledwitz & Associates, APC will be participating in the “Ask a Lawyer” Program. Mark your calendars if you would like to come meet representatives from our firm who will be participating. Date: Thursday, May 1, 2014 Time: 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Address: Torrance Superior Court, First Floor, 825 Maple Avenue, Torrance, California 90503 For more information, visit their website. You can also contact our firm at...DOMA: Perry Doesn’t Address State Law Concerns
DOMA: Perry Doesn’t Address State Law Concerns As discussed in previous posts by this blog and numerous other commentators, the landmark Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor resulted in the Defense of Marriage Act (commonly abbreviated as “DOMA”) being ruled unconstitutional, causing same-sex married couples to be federally recognized. What many people do not know is that another case, Hollingsworth v. Perry, was not decided by the Court due to procedural reasons. The Perry case could have had the same effect on state law as Windsor had on federal law—invalidating state laws that did not recognize same-sex marriages. The Court’s refusal to rule on the merits of Perry allows state courts to have the ultimate decision about whether state laws that ban or fail to acknowledge same-sex marriage are constitutional. Because the states have no federal precedent to obey, considerable uncertainty exists about how same-sex couples are treated within individual borders. The lack of uniformity means that despite being recognized for federal purposes, a same-sex married couple can be disregarded within a state depending on local law. This is a highly variable situation, as Paul Ferrara, Senior VP of Wealth Management at US Trust, aptly describes in the following scenario: “Imagine a same-sex married couple travels by train from Boston to Washington, DC. The train made stops in Providence, New Haven, New York, Newark, NJ, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore and then Washington. If the couple disembarked the train in Providence, New Haven, New York, Baltimore and then Washington, their marriage would be recognized. However, if they disembarked in Newark, Philadelphia or Wilmington, the marriage would not be recognized. The...Updated 2014 Successor Trustee’s Handbook
We have just published our updated 2014 Successor Trustee’s Handbook. It is available to read online here: Successor Trustee Handbook We will also be distributing printed copies to the attendees of our April 9th Seminar in Torrance, CA. Call to reserve a place today –...FREE SEMINAR Wednesday , April 9, 2014 at 2:00 – WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE DUTIES?
Estate Planning For Your Children – It’s Not Just About The Money
Most people near the age of majority do not have large estates (money or property) and many families assume that this means an estate plan is completely unnecessary. This is simply not true. A comprehensive estate plan does much more than protecting property from probate and directing the disposition of assets—estate plans also tell medical and financial institutions who is authorized to make decisions on your behalf. Without current, effective documents, these institutions may refuse to release medical information and will likely not allow family members to make healthcare decisions.