I am a California attorney-at-law with a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating for Attorneys and a member of 14 Who’s Who publications throughout the world as a specialist in trusts and estate planning. I have a B.S from U.S.C, a Juris Doctor from the University of California, an MBA from Harvard and a Graduate degree from Waseda University in Japan.
I have practiced law for over 40 years, first specializing in international business and real estate transactions for U.S. and foreign clients and now handle trusts for clients after I realized that the biggest challenge my clients face is not accumulating assets but passing it as inexpensively and promptly as possible to their heirs and beneficiaries.
Assets in the U.S. must go through a probate process to transfer to heirs. Many owners have a will that specifies who gets their assets upon their passing. But a will does not avoid probate which is a very time consuming and expensive process. The costs for undergoing probate is around 4% of the GROSS value of the estate and can take upwards of several years to complete depending upon the size and complexity of the estate. The estate executor fees can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. After COVID, the time it takes to process a probate case can be more than two years.
But there is a much simpler and cheaper alternative to get the assets to your heirs. It is a revocable living trust. These days, to ensure my clients are able to pass their estates to their heirs with minimum time and expense, I specialize in providing them revocable living trusts.
Click the tab on Why a Trust to find out more about how living trusts can benefit you.