Trust Me

In this episode of Trust Me!, Bette Epstein discusses the magic of the trust and estate mediation process to informally resolve disputes, which includes party engagement, active listening, patience and problem solving.   About Our Guest: Bette Epstein is a mediator, arbitrator and referee with ADR Services, Inc.  Ms. Epstein has been mediating trust and estate disputes since 2000.  Following a rem...

California just passed a directed trust statute! In this episode of Trust Me!, Michael Rosen-Prinz and David Khanjyan will go over the basic structure of a directed trust, along with the specifics of California’s new directed trust statute. About Our Guests: Michael Rosen-Prinz is a partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP (Los Angeles office). Michael maintains a broad trusts and estate practice, including...

In this episode of Trust Me!, Kristin Yokomoto discusses ethical considerations in the estate planning world. She covers issues relating to engagement letters, conflicts, communication, capacity and more. About Our Guest: Kristin Yokomoto is a partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP in Costa Mesa, California and focuses on tax and estate planning for high-net-worth individuals, trust administration a...

Clients have grown to be more charitably inclined and want to incorporate charitable giving as part of their estate plan. In this episode, we discuss the basics of charitable planning, as we review the ABCs of those great acronyms: the CRUTs, CRATs, and CLATs. About Our Guest: Amy Takeuchi Wanlass is a Senior Wealth Advisor for Northern Trust based in their Pasadena office. Amy has over a decade o...

What must be, and what should be included, by the trustee of a trust in an accounting? And, who is entitled to receive what kind of information? In this episode, our guest Denise Riley discusses the details of what is required in an accounting.   About Our Guest:  Denise Riley is the Senior Fiduciary Officer of the West Region in the San Francisco office of Northern Trust .  In addition to being t...

A revocable trust is an essential part of an estate plan in California. And when clients ask why they need a revocable trust, our answer is always: to avoid probate! We know that probate is time consuming and costly, but have you ever wondered how our system came to be? In this episode of Trust Me!, Anne Rudolph and Ralph Hughes discuss their recent article published in the Trusts & Estates Qu...

Join estate-planning attorney Elizabeth Bawden and trust-and-estate litigator Matt Owens for a discussion about the Corporate Transparency Act.   About Our Guest:  Elizabeth Bawden is a partner in Withers Bergman’s Los Angeles office. Elizabeth focuses her efforts on estate planning, planned giving, and tax-exempt organizations. Elizabeth represents clients in matters related to family wealth tran...

Join Deputy District Attorney Scott Pirrello and Estate Planning Attorney Melissa Raneri Karlsten for a conversation about elder abuse, including internet and technology scams that everyone, no matter their age, is being bombarded with on a daily basis. Scott and Melissa discuss shipping notifications, product subscriptions, and why you should not click on links, or pick up the phone if you do not...

Are irrevocable trusts truly irrevocable?  One way to change the terms of an irrevocable trust is by decanting.  In this episode, our guest Michael Rosen-Prinz will be discussing the particulars of California’s decanting statute.  About Our Guest: Michael Rosen-Prinz is a partner at the Los Angeles office of Loeb & Loeb LLP.  Michael maintains a broad trusts and estate practice, including weal...

Most attorneys are able to identify clients who clearly have mental capacity to make decisions and those who clearly lack such capacity.  But what about the clients in the middle part of the spectrum? In this episode, geropsychologist Bonnie Olsen provides practical guidance on dealing with clients who may have mental function deficits.  She explains how capacity is situational, what attorneys can...

The world is getting smaller and smaller.  As estate planners, we need to be aware of cross-border issues when it comes to estate planning and taxation.  In this episode, our guest Chris Nason will be discussing a basic and practical overview of international estate planning and tax planning issues.    About Our Guest: Chris Nason is a partner at McDermott, Will & Emery based in their San Fran...

In January of 2009, the infamous and anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin Network. Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency, which is a digital asset that lives on a decentralized public ledger, also known as the blockchain. Over a decade later, crypto has solidified itself as a legitimate asset class and a major player in the financial space. There are now thousands of different crypto asse...

In this episode, our guests, Marguerite Lorenz, Master Trustee, and Todd Stephenson, estate liquidator, will be discussing the difficulties that are encountered in dealing with personal property after someone has died. This episode is geared towards estate planners who are looking to create a well-rounded plan to avoid unnecessary family strife after a client’s passing, as well as to the general p...

Trust and estate lawyers have a keen interest in state legislation.  The California Lawyers Association gives them a voice in Sacramento.  When conservatorships became a hot topic in the Legislature, the Trusts and Estates Section of CLA was there to provide real-world input from experienced practitioners.  The Section regularly sponsors bills to advance the fairness and efficiency of California l...

Private letter rulings (PLRs) are one of many tools that tax and wealth planning professionals can employ to benefit their clients, but many professionals are unaware of the benefits of PLRs or don’t know how to obtain PLRs.  Our guest, S. Eva Wolf, will provide us with guidance on the PLR process as it relates to common estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax issues.    About Our Guest:...

Join us for a conversation with neuropsychologist Jonathan Canick about the interplay between aging and an elder client’s capacity to execute estate planning documents.  Aging itself has no direct effect on mental capacity, but ageist stereotypes and implicit biases abound.  Indeed, many physicians mistakenly assume that advancing age results in cognitive decline.  At the same time, mental functio...

What is a conservatorship?  Over the past few years, “conservatorship” has become a popular buzz word and the topic of many discussions in the media. With this new-found attention on conservatorships, California lawmakers have been busy, passing multiple bills and changing the landscape of how conservatorships are established, managed, and supervised in California Probate Courts. Although there is...

In this episode, our guest Josie M. Porras Corporon, CELA, will be diving into the misunderstood world of elder law.  This episode is geared towards practitioners who don’t know what an elder law attorney does and when they need to refer their clients to an elder law attorney; as well as to the general public as a guide for where to start when they want to plan for a long term disability in additi...

Probate matters and general civil matters can sometimes be seen as operating in two separate worlds.  However, in practice, these worlds often interact with one another.  In this episode, we are covering probate and civil crossover issues.  We discuss a lot of the basic concepts and considerations given when choosing to file either a probate or civil case and dealing with concurrent litigation.  W...

Amending revocable trusts is such a common occurrence for estate planners that the procedure for doing so may be given little thought. Most trust instruments include provisions establishing the procedures for amendment, but what if those procedures are not followed? Should the amendment be held invalid? Two appellate court decisions, King v Lynch and Haggerty v. Thornton take up the question. The...

Surveys reveal an equity gap in estate planning.  Although everyone should have an estate plan, Americans in communities of color are less likely to have plans in place.  Without powers of attorney and health care directives, families may find it hard to manage the affairs of their incapacitated elders.  And when elders die without a trust or will, it may be difficult to keep the home and other as...

There’s a lot of talk about student loan debt and the rising cost of college education.  One tax effective solution for clients who want to help their children or grandchildren with this rising cost is a 529 plan.  In this episode, our guest David Oh will review the basic rules of 529 plans and discuss what clients should consider when setting up such plans. He will also examine the tax and financ...

Many elders who need support with their activities of daily living want to remain in their homes as long as possible.  How can caregivers be hired and paid in compliance with the law?  What do California trust and estate lawyers need to know to advise their clients? Our guest Bob King provides an overview of the tricky employment and tax laws that apply to in home caregivers in California.  A care...

In this episode, our guest Michael DiBernardo will be diving into the exciting world of fiduciary income taxation.  This episode is geared towards practitioners who don’t deal with trust income tax rules on a daily basis.  We will discuss a basic and practical overview of fiduciary income tax as it relates to estate planning and trust administration.    About Our Guest: Mike DiBernardo is a Certif...

This Episode of “Trust Me” is Part 2 of a multi-episode series, which features an interview with Ryan Szczepanik and Ciarán O’Sullivan, the co-authors of the article: “When They Don’t Clap for Anti-SLAPP.” The article appeared in the California Trusts and Estates Quarterly, Volume 28, Issue 1, published in 2022 by the Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyers...