Estate Planning

Estate planning is not a stack of documents. It is a coordinated legal strategy designed to protect your family, preserve your assets, and provide clarity when it matters most.

At Wright, Finlay & Zak, Mary Finlay and Charley Kausen can assist you at every stage of your planning journey, whether creating a plan for the first time, reviewing an existing plan, or confirming that your assets are titled properly.

First-Time Estate Planning

Starting your estate plan can be confusing. We eliminate the guesswork and explain your documents in plain English, not legalese. We focus on you and what matters most to you. We look at family dynamics, asset structure, tax exposure, and long-term objectives to design a plan tailored to your specific circumstances.

At Wright, Finlay & Zak, LLP, we provide flat-rate estate planning services designed to help you:

• Avoid Probate: Bypass the lengthy and costly court process.
• Plan for Incapacity: Protect your assets even if you are unable to.
• Provide for Those You Leave Behind: Specify how, when, and to whom your assets will go.

Our Estate Planning Packages Include:

1. California Revocable Living Trust: The star player at avoiding probate, a California revocable trust allows you to hold your property as trustee, meaning you no longer own the property in your individual name, eliminating the need for a court to transfer title or ownership.

2. Pour-Over Will: Every star needs their sidekick, and your pour-over will acts as a back-up plan to pour over assets into your trust if anything is left out.

3. Durable Power of Attorney: Appoint someone to manage financial matters, like paying your mortgage, taxes, and healthcare expenses, if you’re incapacitated.

4. Advance Health Care Directive: Assign a health care agent and lay out your medical instructions, ensuring you receive the care you need while respecting your wishes.

5. Transfer Deeds and Assignments: We prepare and record all the deeds and documents necessary to transfer your California property into your trust, and assignments for your tangible and intangible personal property.

We design a plan that works not only today, but decades from now, and ensure that your plan evolves as your life evolves.

Estate Plan Reviews and Updates

If you already have a plan, we can review it to make sure it still says what you want and conforms to current laws. We can help update distribution provisions, successor trustee appointments, property schedules, and everything in-between.

An outdated plan can create unnecessary cost, confusion, and unintended results. A periodic review helps prevent unexpected headaches.

Properly Funding Your Trust

Drafting a trust is only the first step. The next step is funding it. Whether establishing a new plan or reviewing an existing one, we assist with:

• Transferring real property into the trust
• Coordinating ownership of business interests, like LLCs or Corporations
• Aligning brokerage and bank accounts
• Reviewing beneficiary designations
• Advising on joint ownership structures

Avoid Reassessment and Increased Taxes

In California, funding decisions often intersect with complex property tax reassessment rules under Proposition 19, as well as federal gift tax considerations.

Improper transfers can trigger unintended property tax increases or tax reporting obligations. We guide clients through these issues carefully, balancing probate avoidance, asset protection, tax efficiency, and long-term planning objectives.

If you are creating a plan, updating an existing one, or unsure whether your trust is properly funded, we are here to help ensure your estate plan works as intended.