The 34 Most Dangerous Estate Planning Mistakes

Most estate plans don’t fail in court. They fail quietly, a few weeks after a funeral, because of a hole nobody found while it could still be fixed.

The 34 Most Dangerous Estate Planning Mistakes is a plain-English guide for Californians who want their plan to work. It’s written by a California attorney whose practice emphasizes estate planning, trust administration and probate, from the mistakes families run into after a death. Each chapter is one mistake: what it looks like, what it costs, and what to do instead.

What’s inside:

• No plan, or the wrong one. What happens with no will, why a will doesn’t avoid probate, and what California’s statutory probate fees cost on a typical house.
• The trust that fails. Unfunded trusts, the wrong trustee, co-trustees who deadlock, and what a revocable trust can’t protect you from.
• The people you leave behind. Guardians for minor children, young adults, special needs, blended families, and the family house left to several children.
• Accounts that skip the plan. Beneficiary forms, retirement accounts, pay-on-death accounts and digital assets.
• Taxes. The step-up in basis, the community property step-up, the federal estate tax, portability and Proposition 19.
• Incapacity and care. Powers of attorney, health care directives, conservatorship and Medi-Cal.

Every dollar example is labeled as an illustration and shows its arithmetic. Every rule is tied to its source. The back of the book has a 34-question self-audit, checklists, a glossary and a page of current figures.

This book is general information about California law. It isn’t legal, tax or financial advice.

Read the free guide first

• The seven mistakes that cause the most damage
• Free 44-point trust checkup

More books: planning ahead

• Before You ClaimComing soon
• I Did My Trust Online. Now What?Coming soon