San Jose Wills & Trusts Lawyer Liza Hanks Home
Articles & FAQs
It's summer time! If you are leaving your children in someone else's care, please also leave a consent form for emergency medical treatement, so that if something happens, doctors can treat your child in your absence. Without your signature on such a consent form, doctors cannot provide treatment to a minor. Click on the title here to download a Parental Medical Release Form in .pdf form, or here to download a Word file.
The new tax law makes permanent a new feature in estate tax law, portability, which allows a surviving spouse to make use of the deceased spouse's unused exemption from federal estate tax. We summarized this in our 2013 Newsletter. Click here to download a longer explanation of portability, or read the article below online.
Most of us don't yet think about including information about our digital assets in our estate plans. But we should. If you die or become incapacitated, your family needs to know your passwords, your online accounts, and your automatic deposits and payments. To get started, click here to download an article and inventory form for your Digital Planning, or read the article below online.
Seniors are being targeted by scammers who call to tell them that they've won a foreign lottery. All they need to do is send a small amount of money, or provide confidential financial or personal information, to claim their prize. Don't be fooled and don't let anyone you know be fooled. Click here to download an article and learn more, or read the article below online.
Parental Medical Release Learning About Portability
Click here to download an article about portability and your options under the new estate tax laws. If you'd rather read it online, it's here as an article too.
Digital Estate Planning Most of us don't yet think of your digital information as an important part of our estate planning, but we should. Create a list of your most essential digital assets and leave it with your estate plan. Click here to download an article that will help guide you through the process and provides you with a form to get started. If you'd rather read it online, it's here as an article too, see the list below.
Avoiding Lottery Scams Seniors are being targeted by scammers who call to tell them that they've won a foreign lottery. All they need to do is send money, or confidential personal information to claim their prize. Don't be fooled. Click here to download and article and learn more. If you'd rather read it online, it's here as an article too, see the list below.
Arranging to Donate Your Body Arranging to Donate Your Organs Charitable Trusts: Tax Breaks for Do-Gooders Checklist for Getting Your Financial Affairs in Order Choosing a Guardian for Your Children Choosing an Executor FAQ Choosing Your Healthcare Agent Do You Need Life Insurance? Duty of Medical Personnel to Honor Your Healthcare Directives Estate and Gift Tax FAQ Family Members' Right to Inherit FAQ for Executors Final Arrangements FAQ Get Organized Now Getting Your Retirement Money Early -- Without Penalty Is It Time to Change Your Estate Plan? How Durable Powers of Attorney for Finances Work How Healthcare Directives Work How Living Trusts Avoid Probate Leaving Property to Young Children Life Insurance Options Living Trust FAQ Probate FAQ Married Couples: Who Owns What? Reducing Estate Tax by Making Gifts Reducing Estate Taxes by Transferring Ownership of Your Life Insurance Policy Retirement Plan FAQ Should You Treat Children Differently in Your Will? As your children grew, you loved and treated them all the same. Yet, maybe one of them held a special place in your heart or needed more help from you.
Tax-Saving AB Trusts The Estate Tax Is Dead (Maybe) The Executor's Job The Perils of Prepayment Plans Top Myths About Retirement Plans Using Life Insurance to Provide for Your Kids What You Can Cover in Your Healthcare Directives What You Can't Do in Your Will Wills FAQ 
