Estate Planning & Real Estate Law Articles

Is Your California Corporation or LLC in Good Standing?

Donald W. Flaig, Esq.

Owning a business can be an exciting prospect, but if not organized and run properly, you may become personally liable for business related expenses.

Divorce is never easy. It is a very emotional time filled with many decisions that need to be made.

You want to amend your Living Trust, but do not want to spend the money or take the time to meet with an attorney to discuss the modifications.

For many pet owners, pets are members of the family. These individuals often say that if something happens to them, they are more concerned with what will happen to their pets than to their children or spouse.

The unthinkable just might happen, so be prepared. Have a well documented and detailed set of instructions already neatly assembled and in place. Eliminate confusion by planning ahead.

Are You Being Too Informal? A Case Study - We have found that small businesses tend to operate their business without the stringent formalities of a large company.  This sounds like a benefit to having a small business – however – not only is it incorrect as small businesses need to operate with certain formalities, but when they don’t, we see drastic results.

2017 is going to have changes.  Let’s see, a new President, possible interest and tax changes, a Republican run Congress and House – these are not small issues where each one of us will be affected.  As such, there is no better time to do some estate planning than now.

What is a Limited Liability Company (LLC)? An LLC a non-corporate entity that is authorized by statute and may engage in lawful acts or activity. The owners (members) have no personal liability.

Most people don’t have a lot of experience handling what happens after their loved one dies and they have been named as the Successor Trustee - in charge of settling their loved one's Revocable Living Trust.

While most of us do not want to consider or think about the possibility of someday becoming incapacitated, it is a reality in today’s world.

Scenario:   Dad died last year and mom died last month.  Ok, not the most upbeat article ever, but certainly realistic and families must be ready for what to do now.  For purposes of this article, we will assume that the parents had a properly drafted Living Trust and had placed their assets into the Trust prior to death.  What now?  When I say “Trust Settlement”, this means administering the Trust according to its directions now that mom and dad are deceased.

Generally speaking most people understand the need to have an Estate Plan put into place.  Whether someone is affluent or has a simple estate, the benefits are huge.  It is particularly important for those business ow

There are 5 “MUST HAVE” documents included along with your Living Trust when creating your Estate Plan.  While the Living Trust is primarily used when you become deceased, 3 out of 4 of these “must have” documents are critical to have

Today, your estate may be well below the federal gift and estate tax exemption of $5.43 million (double that for married couples). However, if your wealth grows over the next 30+ years, or Congress makes changes to that amount, you may end up with a large estate tax problem. So how do we plan for that now and what other issues need to be discussed?

While there is a belief, that is true to some extent, that there is flexibility with LLCs, be wary to fall into the trap of believing that you can be informal in how you govern your LLC. Here are 5 of the largest pitfalls we see:

FAILING TO PLAN. The surest way to mess up your estate, allow the courts and attorneys to eat up your legacy, is to fail to do any planning. While it is not the most fun thing to do or spend your money on, it is absolutely critical that you take the time and take care of your family.

We have found that an increasing number of businesses do not end up surviving beyond the founding owner’s lifetime.  Most people do not take the time to ask the question “What will happen, practically, to my business should I die?”  Ownership, con

The Flaig Law Firm founder, Donald W. Flaig, was nominated and selected by the National Advocates Top 100 Attorneys in California for 2015.  This prestigious honor is given to a select group of lawyers based upon their credentials, work and peer recognition. 

If you were injured in an accident, would you know what to do immediately following the incident? This Donald W.