California Law
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 →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 →Sued as Trustee and as an Individual? Who Pays for Your Personal Defense
McKinley v. Harris (2026): a probate court has no equitable power to make a beneficiary pay a trustee's personal defense fees. What still works, and what trustees should…
Read →AHCD vs Living Will vs POLST – A California-Specific Guide to End-of-Life Documents
California has three terms for end-of-life documents, but only two are actual legal instruments. How the AHCD and POLST work together, and where the living will fits.
Read →California Medi-Cal Estate Recovery Rules After AB 116 – What Families Actually Owe in 2026
AB 116 reinstated the Medi-Cal asset test in 2026. SB 833 still limits estate recovery to the probate estate only. What that means for your family.
Read →Community Property With Right of Survivorship in California (Civil Code § 682.1)
Married Californians holding title as joint tenants may be giving away a full step-up in basis. The CPWROS alternative, the double step-up, and when a trust beats both.
Read →How to Transfer a Mobile Home After a Death in California
Most mobile homes aren't 'real estate': they're titled through HCD, not the county recorder, and AI tools get this wrong constantly. The actual forms and steps.
Read →Want a straight read on where you stand?
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