Estate Planning

This branch of law assesses an individual's estate, takes into consideration the laws of wills, taxes, insurance, property and trusts so as to gain maximum benefit of all laws while carrying out the individual's wishes for the disposition of his/her property upon death.

A Will is a legal document, drafted and executed in accordance with state law, which becomes irrevocable at your death. In your Will, you can name your beneficiaries, a guardian for your minor children, and an executor to manage the distribution of your estate. If you die without a Will, California law will determine the beneficiaries of your estate under intestate succession rules.

A Will alone, however, does not avoid a Probate Court proceeding when the gross value of a decedent's estate exceeds $100,000.00. Probate, which can be costly and time consuming, can be avoided with a Trust. A Trust may also create certain tax advantages for an estate. Probate can also be avoided through various vesting of title to an individual's property. How title is held can have a variety of tax ramifications.

Vergari & Associates can provide you with the assurance that your Will and/or Trust is prepared in accordance with California law. We will provide you with suggestions and help you to understand the many ways that property can be transferred to or for the benefit of your beneficiaries. Vergari & Associates can also help you develop a complete estate plan and offer alternative plans which may save you taxes. This type of planning can be extremely helpful and economical in the long run for you and your beneficiaries.

This document allows you to direct medical decisions by designing an agent or attorney-in-fact to make health care decisions when you are no longer able or temporarily unable. It may also contain statements of wishes concerning such matters as life sustaining treatment and other heath care issues, as well as instructions concerning organ donation and autopsy. Vergari & Associates will individualize and customize this statutory document to your personal wishes. Most hospitals, even for short stay, will inquire as to whether a patient has an advance health care directive.

A power of attorney is a document, whereby one person, as principal, appoints another as an agent and confers authority to that agent to perform certain specified acts or kinds of acts pertaining to the estate of the principle. A power of attorney may be designed to take effect immediately or upon the principle's incapacity, whether the incapacity is temporary or permanent.

Real property may be transferred in a variety of ways, all requiring the appropriate transfer deed, i.e. grant deed, quitclaim deed, interspousal transfer deed, etc.

Agreements entered into prior to marriage which protect separate property assets of either, or both, parties to the marriage. In essence, the parties may contract outside the marital laws in the State of California, provided certain statutory requirements are met.