Holiday Gift Guide
By William C. Mason, III, Of Counsel
With the holidays just around the corner, I’d like to offer you the following tongue-in-cheek guide: Dos and Don’ts: An Estate Planning Attorney’s Guidebook to Holiday Gifts. Gift Taxes: Presently, the IRS allows an individual to gift up to $12.06 million over the course of his or her lifetime (“Lifetime[...]
Debunking Trust Myths and Misconceptions
By Allyson S. Heller
When it comes to estate planning, people tend to have misconceptions about living trusts, many of which stem from secondhand accounts from unreliable sources. Below, I debunk some of the most common myths about trusts. Myth #1: “Trusts are for rich people.” Reality: By far the most common misconception I[...]
Estate Planning for Young Adults
By William C. Mason III
If you are a parent, you are likely accustomed to possessing broad authority to make decisions pertaining to your child’s health, finances, and overall welfare. However, once your child reaches age eighteen, the legal landscape changes and your ability to make these important decisions evaporates. At age eighteen, your child[...]
Trust And Will Terminology 101
By Allyson S. Heller
When people begin looking into the process of creating a living trust, they often have questions about the various legal terms that they may encounter, many of which can seem confusing and overwhelming. To help demystify the estate planning process, in this article I briefly define some of the most[...]
Non-Probate transfers of small estates in california
By Allyson S. Heller
As a general rule, when a person dies in California holding real or personal property outside of a trust or without properly designated beneficiaries, the deceased person’s assets must be administered under the court’s supervision through a process known as “probate.” Probate proceedings can cost tens of thousands of dollars[...]
The Undoing of Roe V. Wade
By William C. Mason III
Although our firm does not practice constitutional law, I have a particular interest in this area of the law. The Supreme Court recently rendered many historical rulings, with the most notable being Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which I have summarized here: The Facts: The Dobbs case addressed Mississippi’s[...]
