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 moreCongress has been heating up over another hot button issue in recent days: immigration. Securing the border, the status of long-term illegal immigration, and the apparent inhumanity of many deportations has made immigration a top priority in Obama’s second term. In California, the issues of both legal and illegal immigration are particularly acute. Current estimates … Read more
You have all seen commercials for various resources promising to show you the connections to your family’s past and, as a result, its very broad present. Often the commercials feature people who have supposedly used the service to find that their great great uncle was Abraham Lincoln or that their 3rd cousin half a dozen … Read more
These days there is a lot of talk about the aging population, health of Social Security and Medicare, Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, and the rising cost of necessary medical care. Understanding how all of these topics interplay with each other can be a daunting task for anyone. Often, for someone who is ill, it is the … Read more
There is a wealth of good estate planning information, especially on the internet. Additionally, it is really easy to find fill in the blank estate planning forms from service providers such as LegalZoom or, more recently, TaxAct. However, one size does not fit all in the estate planning world; there are a number of ways … Read more
Much of the talk in 2012 was related to the “fiscal cliff,” when a number of tax breaks would expire and automatic spending cuts would be triggered. Born out of Congress’s inability to resolve major issues at the end of 2011, they created the concept of sequestration which would be so unbearable that no one … Read more
Choosing the people who will handle your affairs while you are seriously ill, injured, or missing is a deeply personal decision. Additionally, each document that you may use in order to give people power over your person and your estate covers its own issues and may have its own fiduciaries. Understanding, creating, and reviewing your … Read more
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) heard oral arguments on January 8, 2013 regarding an interesting Medicaid reimbursement case. After a person’s death, Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) will often attempt to recover some of the medical expenses spent on behalf of the Medicaid beneficiary from the estate. In a lesser known cost recovery … Read more
California is a heavily agricultural state. With more than 25 million acres of farmland, laws and regulations affecting farmers would hit a significant portion of the Californian population. During the past year, farmers have been pushing for a number of important changes, some of which have implications for people outside of farming communities as well. … Read more
During this time of year, the VA has generally required that veterans receiving certain benefits file an Eligibility Verification Report (EVR) annually; most veterans would be expecting their forms now. Failure to fill in and return the EVR ran the risk of kicking the veteran out of the payment system. However, the VA has announced … Read more
When Is a Couple Legally a Couple? California State Law Purposes Veterans Benefits Medi-Cal Income Tax This seems like such an easy question, but it isn’t. Why? Because it depends on for what issue one asks this question. And there are numerous issues for which one could ask this question. The most frequent areas for … 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.
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...
Dear Mr. Miller: My mother passed away recently, and I have been named the Successor Trustee of her trust. I expected to be sad after losing her, but ...
Dear Mr. Miller: About ten years ago, my husband and I paid an attorney to create a Living Trust. We signed all the documents and put them in a safe p...
