OUR OFFICE WILL PROVIDE COMPETENT, CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL SERVICES TO YOU IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS OF LAW
(If you do not see the type of services you require, please contact us
and we will be happy to provide you with a referral.)

PROBATE

• Probates
  
• Trust Administration
  
• Conservatorships
  
• Guardianships

ESTATE PLANNING

• Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts:
  
• Living Revocable Trusts
  
• Insurance Trusts
  
• Charitable Trusts
  
• Generation-skipping Trusts
  
• Qualified Domestic Trusts
  
• Special Needs Trusts
  
• Wills
  
• Durable Powers of Attorney for Property Management
  
• Advanced Directives for Health Care
  
• Trust Funding
  
• Spousal Property Agreements
  
• Pre-Nuptial Agreements
  
• Click here for additional information on Estate Planning
  
  For an estimate of what your estate planning project may cost, please complete the questionnaire and submit it on-line to the Law Office of Beverly M. Hoey. Please click here for the Preliminary Questionnaire for Estate Planning.
  

  REAL PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS

• Quiet Title
  
• Easements
  
• Purchase and Sale Contracts (Negotiation and Drafting)
  
• Commercial Leases (Negotiation and Drafting)
  
• Broker Liability
  
• Title Issues
  
• Co-tenancy Issues
  
• Loan Work Outs
  
• Financing
  
• Homeowners' Associations, Condominiums and CC & R's
  
• Promissory Notes and Deeds of Trust
  
• Joint Venture Agreements
  
• 1031 Exchanges
  
• Dispute Resolution

  BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS

• Partnership Agreements
  
• Incorporations
  
• Limited Liability Corporations
  
• Business and Employee Contracts
  
• Dispute Resolution
  
• Business Buy-sell Agreements
  

PREPARING AN ESTATE PLAN is probably the most responsible and caring project we will ever consciously undertake for ourselves and for our loved ones. The decisions you are about to make will positively and substantially affect the quality of your future and the future of your family. An estate plan will provide you with peace of mind in the present and with comfort and security in the future. It will be part of the legacy that you leave behind to your family and community.

An estate plan is the pre-implementation of procedures designed to take financial and physical care of yourself and your loved ones - now, in the event of your disability, and after your death. Creating an estate plan is most assuredly an objective, technical process of decision-making concerning your wealth and your personal well-being. But your decisions will be based on much more than just money matters. Many of the decisions you are about to make will be also be impacted by more subjective, personal information - your family situation, your perceptions, and your beliefs. Your estate plan will also be a reflection of:

• Your philosophy of money
  
• Your personal beliefs about medical care, life, death, and spirituality
  
• Your family dynamics and individual personalities
  
• Your opinions about other people close to you, and the degree of confidence you have in them
  
• Your family traditions and values
  
• Your hopes and dreams for your future, the future of your spouse, and of your children and grandchildren

In creating your estate plan, you will have to contemplate the above issues at some level. You may recall past personal and family events which will influence the decisions you now make. You may find yourself experiencing unexpected emotions - love, gratitude, anger, and anxiety - as you re-live those past events and anticipate future ones. You may have conflicting thoughts and feelings about personal issues that may make it difficult to make such decisions, and which may be difficult for you to articulate. You may have to overcome certain family taboos, such as taboos against any discussion of money, or of death, or of certain family matters, which might cause some degree of discomfort for you. You may experience that you and your spouse differ on certain "touchy" issues. You may even discover some new things about yourself!

This will also be an opportunity for you to express your love, trust, gratitude, and support. You may want to make special gifts to loved ones, or to worthy causes. You may want to provide for someone in your family with a special need, or for someone who is particularly deserving. You will be alleviating your family from certain personal, legal and financial burdens in case of your death or disability. You will be making medical and personal decisions now so that your family won't have to make those decisions for you in the future. And, you will be gaining peace of mind and confidence that your affairs are in order, you and your family are provided for, and that the future is a little less uncertain!

These are all very personal issues that will influence your decisions. Perhaps you do not want to face some of these issues at all. But by factoring these elements into your estate plan, you will positively impact your satisfaction with your plan, will increase the plan's efficacy, and will increase the lifespan of the plan without need for amendment because of your personal situation.

We want to provide for you a safe, non-judgmental, and confidential environment in which you can freely discuss your beliefs, family dynamics, personalities, and your finances. While it is at your discretion to what extent that some of these more private issues are discussed with us, we encourage you to share as much as possible with us so that your estate plan will be more perfectly suited to your individual situation. If you are married or a dependent, you are entitled to private conferences and/or separate counsel, and you should feel free to ask for them if you want them. We will be happy to explain to your spouse or caregiver that individual confidentiality and/or separate counsel is your legal right, that it is done all the time as a matter of course, and it would not be an indication of any mistrust or wrong-doing; that, in fact, it is actually the legally-prescribed way of working with legal counsel.

In our first meeting, we will be discussing such matters as:

• What lifestyle do you want to have in the future?
  
• What is your age, and how is your overall health?
  
• Who in your life will help you implement and maintain that lifestyle, in the event of your disability?
  
• Are there any family members you specifically would not want to handle your affairs?
  
• Would any of your children need a guardian, conservator, or special care because of their age or disability?
  
• Who might be suitable to so care for your children?
  
• What are your expectations for your children?
  
• Do you and your children share the same expectations?
  
• Do you and your children share the same philosophy of money?
  
• Do your children exhibit the maturity level the handle lump sums of money?
  
• Do you want to influence how your children spend their inheritance, or are you happy to let them make their own choices?
  
• Do you want to treat your children equally in your bequests? If not, why not? How will your decision affect the feelings of your children towards you and towards each other?
  
• Is there a child you want to disinherit? Why? How will that affect the future relationship between your children?
  
• Do you want your children to be privy to the terms of your living trust and will while you are still alive?
  
• Do you want your children to actively participate in the formation of your estate plan, without any concerns for personal or confidential issues?
  
• Do you want to contribute financially to a cause, charity, or religious organization upon your death or disability?
  
• Is there any certain personal property that you would like a specific person to have?
  
• What is your total worth (gross)?
  
• How is that worth held, e.g. liquid assets, real estate, businesses, etc., in which you have an interest?
  
• Do you already have a trust, will, durable power of attorney, or other estate planning documents?
  
• Are any of your assets located outside California or outside the United States?
  
• Do you anticipate receiving any sizable inheritances or other economic windfall?
  
• Do you and your spouse own any separate property?
  
• Do you and/or your spouses have prior marriages and/or children from another relationship? Does your spouse know about these other marriages and/or children?
  
• Do you want your spouse to be able to stay in the family home after your death?
  
• Do you want to maximize your use of your assets, or do you want to maximize the size of the estate you leave to your beneficiaries?
  
• Are you both US citizens?

Answers to these questions, and others, will impact the type and complexity of the estate plan for you, the time it will take to implement the plan, and the cost for attorneys fees and out-of-pocket expenses. As you think about them, you may not have immediate answers, and more questions will come to mind. You may want to jot down your questions so that we will be able to address them all at our initial consultation. Please do not be shy about asking what you feel are even the most elementary questions. That is why we are here. The better your understanding, the easier this project will be for all of us, and the better the quality of the final product.

Once you have met with your attorney, and you have a better understanding of estate planning in general, you will be given a questionnaire to complete that will provide us with the data required for your living trust and/or will. You will also be asked to sign a fee agreement, and to deposit a retainer. We invite you to discuss procedures and costs with your attorney at your first meeting.

Always feel free to call us at any time if we can be of any assistance to you!

The Law Offices of Beverly M. Hoey