At Solan, Park & Robello, we ardently believe in the importance of estate planning. We have seen first hand how negatively it impacts families when someone passes away without an estate plan, whether it’s because they didn’t work with a lawyer to make sure their wishes were stated in a legal valid way, or because they just didn’t plan for their eventual death at all. If you die without an estate plan, it can Read More

If you are in the know about the importance of estate planning, it can be stressful, frustrating, and scary to know that your family members or other loved ones are living their lives with an out-of-date estate plan or with no plan at all in place. You know the consequences can be serious and you want to protect them. Luckily, the holidays are the perfect time to bring up this subject! Multiple generations of the Read More

Understanding government-run programs can be complex, and understanding health insurance coverage can be tricky. When you tie the two together, it can be positively confusing. However, it doesn’t have to be. In this post, we’ll explain the differences between Medicare and Medicaid so you can determine which government-run health insurance program is best for you. What Is Medicare? Medicare is a federal health Read More

An important part of estate planning and financial planning is creating a power of attorney. Your power of attorney (POA) is a document that names an “agent” or “attorney-in-fact.” This person will be able to make decisions on your behalf under certain circumstances. Making your POA must be done properly to keep potential problems from arising. Watch out for these three mistakes that could cause trouble down the Read More

An estate plan is one of the most important documents you will draft, but doing it once is not enough. A good estate plan is a dynamic document that needs to be reviewed to make sure it keeps up with your changing life, relationships and finances as well as the current tax and estate laws.  Over time, many things can change. The person you had in place as your power of attorney may no longer be able to serve, you Read More

What can you expect if one of your family members has recently passed away and now you’re going to be involved in a probate process related to his or her estate? The word probate refers to a process in which the assets of a deceased person are distributed among the beneficiaries appointed in his or her Will. In California, this process can be either formal - in which case it is structured according to specific Read More

Wills are legal documents whose validity, by definition and by design, is extremely difficult to challenge. Last wishes presented in a Will are legally protected so that a person creating a Will may confidently expect that its contents will be respected and carried out accordingly. Still, rare and infrequent though they may be, situations where someone attempts to invalidate a Will do happen. Such legal actions are Read More

Having a valid Will in place is an established way to ensure that, after your passing, both your legacy and the financial interests of your property will be adequately protected. One way a Will can achieve these goals is by providing a guarantee that your assets and property will be transferred to your heirs and beneficiaries in an orderly manner and strictly according to your wishes. Still, more than half of Read More

Probate is a court-supervised process in which a deceased person’s assets are passed to their heirs in an orderly and organized manner. It guarantees that the person’s wishes explicitly stated in their Will are going to be respected and fulfilled to the letter. It also gives the person’s legal heirs and other beneficiaries of the will the assurance that the estate of their deceased family member will not be Read More