When real property’s title is held in Joint Tenancy, the Joint Tenancy terminates automatically, but record title must still be cleared. This is done in order to all the Surviving Joint Tenant to have clear title when the time comes to sell or transfer the property.

The simplest way to do this without court interference is through an affidavit procedure outlined in California Probate Code §210(a).

This Affidavit should contain the following:
1. Be signed by the person having knowledge of the facts (usually the surviving Joint Tenant);
2. Include legal description of the property, parcel number, physical address, date the Joint Tenancy deed was recorded;
3. Optional: specify that the Joint Tenancy was not severed;
4. Signed by a notary.

This Affidavit should also be recorded with the County Recorder’s Office. Submit the affidavit along with the preliminary Change of Ownership Report. While the original should be recorded, a copy should be retained and provided to the Title Company upon request.

When a person dies it is important to determine if the person (decedent) had a Will. When a person dies, his/her attorney will usually have knowledge on whether the person had a Will. However, because the decedent could have left a codicil or a new Will, inquiry should be made to attempt to find the latest document.

With the help and cooperation of family, inquiry should be made with banks where decedent had accounts. If a safe deposit box key is available, the box can be accessed with proof of decedent’s death and proof of identity for a limited purpose of getting a copy of the Will and Trust documents in the box under supervision of a bank representative in accord with California Probate Code § 331.

Even when there is no safe deposit key available, the bank as the custodian of the Will documents, should be persuaded to drill the box to obtain a copy of the Will in compliance with California Probate Code §8200 and §8201.

After you filed bankruptcy, you want to restore your credit as soon as possible. The best way is to make sure that all the debts included in your bankruptcy are reflected as such on your Credit Report. I always tell my clients to review their Credit Report within 3-6 months after they receive their Discharge and to contact me if there are any errors.
You can and should review your Credit Report after you receive your bankruptcy Discharge. If you see any errors, you can contact the Credit Reporting Agencies to remedy the problem.
You are welcome to use this letter to dispute the debts on your Credit Report after you receive your bankruptcy Discharge.

DATE
VIA US MAIL

Experian
PO Box 9556
Allen, TX 75013

Equifax Information Services
P O BOX 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374

TransUnion
PO Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022-2000

Re: John Johnson (Social Security # ); Bankruptcy Case No: xx-xxxxx, filed in the Central District of
California on xx/xx/xx (date case was filed).

To whom it may concern:

This letter is regarding erroneous entries in my credit report. I filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on ____________ (date case was filed) and all my debts were Discharged on ___________(date Discharge issued).
[If you have specific debts that are a problem, you can specify by saying:
“Specifically:
1. Chase Bank, account xxxx, balance $xxxxx
2. Bank of America, account xxxx, balance $xxxxx]”

Your continued erroneous reporting of these debts as late or still owing, despite my bankruptcy filing, is a violation of the Discharge Order. Please immediately take steps to make the report accurate, as it is affecting my ability to obtain loans that I need. If this is not corrected, I will be forced to take actions against your organization.
Immediately remove the erroneous entries described above and make the necessary corrections as these errors are causing actual damages to my present and future attempts to qualify for a loan and are causing immediate stress to me. Please note that a failure to exercise reasonable diligence in reinvestigation is considered a violation under Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. §1681 and may result in a damage award for my client. See also Dennis v. BEH, LLC, 485 F. 3d 443 (C.A.9 (Cal.).

Sincerely,

____________________
John Johnson

Enclosures (Include copy of the Discharge document you received from my office and the Court.

Life Insurance is an important component of estate planning. For some, it may be the only significant asset that actually creates an Estate. For smaller/”younger” estates, life insurance may provide a substitution of income, when the main income earner dies. For bigger estates, life insurance may provide the necessary, immediate funds to pay post-death expenses and taxes as well as serve as a secure investment. In business succession context, life insurance may be the sensible way to provide the cash necessary to buy-out the interest of the deceased business owner’s interest and carry on the business.

There are many different types of life insurance available, including: Term, Life, Universal, etc. A different type of insurance may be appropriate at different stages of your life. Also, the funds available to purchase insurance may dictate the optimal policy that you can obtain. Having a knowledgeable, diligent life insurance agent help you purchase your policy as well as review it periodically is critical to the financial stability of your family.

From Estate Tax purposes, it is critical to review your insurance to determine if the right person “owns” the policy, as well as whether the right person/entity is named the “beneficiary.”

The moral of the story is that it’s important to work with both your insurance agent as well as your Estate Planning attorney to make sure that you and your family are protected and not ignore the valuable tool of life insurance when thinking about your Estate Planning needs.

My office can recommend extremely competent life insurance agents to make sure that your Estate Plan is meeting its full potential.

So you’ve heard that in California it’s a good idea to have a Living Trust. What should your package contain when you get this “basic” Estate Plan.

Well, first what you are likely thinking of getting is a Revocable Living Trust. This trust is revocable in that it can be changed or thrown out entirely, while both people or one person that established the trust (Trustor(s)) are alive. It is likely that they appointed themselves the initial Trustees and as such have the power to change the Revocable Living Trust.

What is this Revocable Living Trust? Well, without the proper instructions within the Trust document, as well as the actual steps taken to transfer title of assets (like a house or bank account) into the Trust, this Trust might as well be an empty file folder with drawings of flowers (not that I have anything against flowers). By creating a Revocable Living Trust what you are doing is creating a set of instructions that will govern the way the property will be managed, who will manage it after you are gone. A properly drafted Revocable Living Trust, will allow for your property to pass to your surviving spouse, as well as your children and anyone else you want, in a way that you decide, rather than in a way the Court decides for you. It will help you to avoid Probate (a lengthy and sometimes costly Court process). When necessary and possible, it may help you minimize Estate Taxes that would otherwise be due. In short, it creates order and you will feel better once you have it.

There are various types of Revocable Living Trusts and you should discuss which type is best with your Estate Planning attorney. Because the law is ever changing, I believe that having a Trust that plans for the worst (change in the law that will lower the amount of exemption for estate tax purposes) is best for most people, because not only may your estate grow, but the law may change and since most people will sometimes forget to update their documents, it is better to have a Trust that will self adjust for these occurances.

Ok, so you now have a Revocable Living Trust and you have transferred the Title of your house, your investment property, your large bank account, and tangible personal property into the name of the Trust. What now? Are you done? No, not so fast. What about your car, your smaller bank accounts, other things you may acquire after you create the Trust. Well, that too can be taken care of. How ? By creation of a special Will, that at death will “pour-over” your assets into the Trust. Now, while it is important to transfer all the property into the Trust when it is created to avoid having to go through Probate, it is understandable that somethings will be left out. As such, the Pour-over Will, will take care of the issue. This will also likely be where you will outline your plan for your minor children as far as who will raise them and how the person raising the children will be able to access the money in your Estate.

Ok, now we are cooking. But not done. What more can you possibly need. Well, what about an Advance Health Care Directive which will spell out exactly what you want to happen in case you are critically ill and who you want to make decisions when you can’t. Unfortunately, many of us have seen people struggle to decide what to do when the doctor comes in to ask the tough questions when the parent or sibling is critically ill and will not recover. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to ask that person. Unfortunately, absent having had talks about this before (in a sober state preferably), one may not be able to get the answer now. Wouldn’t it be nice to save your loved ones the agony of having to make such decision and the wondering whether the decision was what you would have wanted. Well with an Advance Health Care Directive you can tell them exactly what you want, so that when you are not able to, they don’t have to guess and wonder if they made the right decision.

Well, that was…educational. Surely, we must now be done. Almost. What about if a person is incapacitated and bills need to be paid, and a new property needs to be managed and the property hasn’t been included in the Trust yet. What now? Well, without a Durable Power of Attorney for Financial Purposes, you may need to get obtain a Guardianship of the Estate, which is again an uncomfortable process that could easily be avoided with a “simple” document. It is simple in what it allows to do, but should not be taken lightly, because it is powerful and the people you give this “power” to should be individuals you trust.

Are we done now? You can exhale, because we are in fact done. Done, with the basics, that is.

Please feel free to contact my to set up your free consultation to discuss your estate planning needs at 310.481.5098