Online resource center to help you explore these key issues, and others, regarding your estate.
Mr. Miller has many years of experience in designing and implementing a comprehensive variety of Trusts, Wills, and other estate planning documents, as well as settling estates in the most expedient and appropriate method. Further, he counsels and assists clients on becoming eligible for VA benefits and Medi-Cal.
Learn moreMr. Miller has been active in the area of VA Pension and Medi-Cal for well over a decade. He uses various specialized types of Trusts as well as non-trust strategies to gain eligibility for his clients and save the family money.
Learn moreMr. Miller has been settling estates (both simple and complex) for well over 40 years. The starting point is always to create a strategy to settle the estate in the most efficient manner possible with a minimum of taxes. Often times the strategy created allows the family to bypass Probate Court proceedings.
Learn moreThe estate tax issue has basically been tabled. Senate Democrats pulled estate tax from their tax proposal to extend the Bush tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 per year. Evidently, the issue is too politically sensitive for politicians to handle; they would rather wait until after the election to create legislation. However, in … Read more
For many Californians, their home is their biggest asset and, in many cases, tax issues related to the sale of the home drive their estate plan. Strategies such as a QMap or QVap trust may help deal with the capital gains from sale. Planning for a beneficiary who will qualify for the Parent-Child Exclusion will … Read more
As California moves forward with Medi-Cal expansion under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, the state is worried that it may not have enough physicians to absorb the newly insured patients. As part of the Act, states are instructed to expand their Medicaid eligibility provisions, although some states are opting out of following instructions. … Read more
In honor of Comic-Con this week, I thought we could discuss some zombie estate planning, or rather, undead estate planning. Recently, Adam Chodorow, a law professor at Arizona State University, proposed the idea that a huge gap exists in estate tax rules for zombies. Although brain-hungry zombies, as they exist in pop culture, will hopefully … Read more
Federal benefits, such as VA Aid & Attendance Non-Service Connected Disability Pension benefits and survivor benefits, Medicare, and Social Security are often ruled by a litany of definitions, describing the meanings for such basic words as “child.” In the case of Astrue v. Capato, the facts of which were described in a former article, the … Read more
As if there weren’t enough reasons for avoiding probate already, we should now prepare for access to the probate court to take even longer than it already does. Recently, the San Diego courts announced that they will be laying off about 250 workers throughout the court and closing several court rooms over the next two … Read more
One of the many concerns clients often have with their estate plan is designating a trustee for their trust. As the name indicates, it should be someone you trust implicitly to manage your financial affairs after your passing and, sometimes, during your life. For that reason, it should be someone who is “good with money.” … Read more
One of my colleagues got married this last weekend. I asked her how she met her husband and she told me a rather serendipitous story: A few months before a big move, one of her friends predicted that she would meet someone who would make her decision to go through with her move more difficult, … Read more
The individual mandate has been the crux of the healthcare overhaul, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The idea is that if healthy people who underutilize their health insurance are required to have insurance, less healthy individuals will be better able to afford health insurance. Over time, the healthy individuals would reap the … Read more
Often people come in to ask for an “estate plan.” Sometimes, they have an idea of what a comprehensive estate plan should include. Other times, they simply have a vague notion that a trust of some sort is probably helpful. However, healthcare planning is a large part of the planning process. The VA offers a … Read more
About Living Trusts is hosted by the Law Offices of Merwyn J. Miller, as your online resource center to help you explore these key issues, and others, regarding your estate.
Part One: What Is Fair? Dear Mr. Miller: I have three adult children and am struggling with how to divide my estate. My oldest daughter has done very ...
Dear Mr. Miller: My husband and I recently completed our estate planning. We now have a Living Trust, Wills, Powers of Attorney and other documents. O...
Dear Mr. Miller: My mother is 82 and still lives alone. Over the last year, she has become noticeably more forgetful. She repeats stories, sometimes f...
