The Journal
Plain-English Estate Law
Plain-English guidance on wills, trusts, probate, and protecting your family in California.
California’s New Law Makes Brokerages Notify TOD Beneficiaries
SB 1288 requires a firm holding a transfer-on-death account to try to notify named beneficiaries within 60 days, starting 2027 for charities and 2028 for everyone else.
Read →New California Probate Rule: Child Support Notice Starting in 2027
SB 1264 changes when an executor must notify the Department of Child Support Services, and it now covers heirs and beneficiaries, not just the person who died.
Read →How the 2027 SSI Increase Affects Special Needs Trustees
The 2027 COLA is 3.6%, and the maximum federal SSI payment rises to $1,029. How trust distributions, rent, and groceries affect SSI, and what trustees should review.
Read →How Do I Treat Loans and Gifts to One Child When My Trust Splits Everything Equally?
Sandford v. Sandford (2026): a trust equalization clause reaches unpaid loans and gifts "but nothing more." What counts, how to value it, and how to write the clause.
Read →The Roth IRA Five-Year Rule: The Clock You Only Get Once
Two people take money out of a Roth IRA. One keeps all of it. The other hands part of it to the IRS. What decided it happened years…
Read →What Is a Trustee Supposed to Tell Me? A Court Just Rejected the Bare-Bones Answer
Hamilton v. Kornides (Va. Ct. App. 2026) rejected a trustee's bare-bones reports. California's Prob. Code, § 16063, lists six things every account must contain. Who is owed one,…
Read →SB 974: Special Needs Trusts and the Prop 19 Parent-Child Exclusion
SB 974 makes a court-established special needs trust an eligible medium of transfer for Prop 19's parent-child exclusion, effective January 1, 2027. What it covers and what it…
Read →The IRS Hasn’t Set 2027 Gift Limits Yet. Your 2026 Window Closes December 31.
The 2026 gift tax annual exclusion is $19,000 per recipient and doesn't carry over. Community property, gift splitting, Form 709, and when a check counts.
Read →Want a straight read on where you stand?
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