The Ferrera Law Firm Blog

Now that we’ve all enjoyed celebrating Memorial Day, school is almost over and the summer travel season has officially begun, many of us start thinking about our estate plan (or our lack of one) every time we board an airplane or get behind the wheel for a long summer car trip. When we travel, it’s not uncommon to be anxious about whether or not we’ve adequately protected our loved ones, such as whether we’ve appointed a guardian for our children.

Before I travel, I know I always create a “to-do list”

As we breath a collective sigh of a relief now that the holidays are over, the decorations have been stored, and spring seems just around the corner, many of us direct our attention to fulfilling our New Year’s Resolutions. One important resolution you should consider completing in 2015 is creating your estate plan. Estate planning is a necessity that is too often overlooked in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. In fact a study by LexisNexis determined that more than half of all Americans do not have a will

When clients meet with me to sign their finished estate plan, they often ask where they should store their estate planning documents. They are understandably concerned about keeping their personal information safe, while at the same time wanting to make it easily accessible to loved ones who may have to step in at a moment’s notice and care for their minor children and assets. I always advise them that communicating to their loved ones that they created an estate plan is an important step in the estate planning process.

Here are

I’m frequently asked questions by couples in their second marriage about how to provide for their children from their prior marriage. Married clients often find it challenging to agree with their spouse about their choices for trustees and executors, guardians for their minor children, and how their beneficiaries will inherit their estate. My clients who have divorced and remarried find the estate planning process that much more difficult with their blended family as they struggle with how to provide for their respective children equally and fairly.

According to the National Stepfamily

Over the summer a family friend’s sister passed away. Her death was sudden and a surprise to her loved ones. She left behind two sons who have been searching for information about their mom’s bank and retirement accounts. They don’t know the passwords to her computer or iPad, let alone to her online investment accounts. Inventorying her personal assets has been such a struggle, and something no one should have to deal with while mourning the loss of a loved one.

So many of us use computers, smartphones or other electronic

The Sacramento Bee’s recent article “Family Argues Change of Will is a Fake” (July 12, 2014) about the death of local Greenhaven resident Joseph Herb O’Brien, and the probate fight in Sacramento Superior Court that ensued over whether Mr. O’Brien’s last will was a fake, highlights the need to add protective measures to your estate plan in order to avoid will contests and estate disputes between your family and loved ones after your death. Although Mr. O’Brien had previously drafted a personal trust, in the last hour before his death,