Trusts & Administration

Life rarely stays the same for long. Families grow, finances shift and personal priorities change over time. Because of this, your trust should not remain untouched for years. A trust amendment gives you the chance to update certain parts of your trust without...

People in the Bay Area try to plan for many different aspects of life. For many unpredictable types of events people will obtain insurance such as car insurance for car accidents or homeowners’ insurance for potential damage to their homes. Similarly to how people plan for those unpredictable events, people should also plan for their death. However, they should do…

Effective estate planning promotes distinct and multiple goals. One central aim on the mind of many planners is asset protection. Another is family legacy and making a positive and lasting social impact. We note at the established Bay Area estate planning Law Offices of Berge & Berge that those dual objectives logically invite consideration of one particular planning tool. Namely,…

California estate planners customarily strive to ensure that their planning goals are promoted concerning future generations. One way that legions of planners do that optimally well is through trust creation. As estate planning commentators routinely note, trusts are impressively flexible instruments that confer broad-based advantages on both their creators and beneficiaries. A planner (often called a grantor) can establish a…

When you start looking into estate planning in California, you’re likely to hear a lot about revocable living trusts. So, why is that? Why do so many Californians form trusts? The short answer is that they often save families valuable time and money. They’re a bit more complicated than wills on the front end, but they can be shrewd investments…

When you write up your estate plan, you might want to create a trust. The shrewd use of trusts comes with some healthy benefits, such as certain tax advantages and the ability to bypass probate. But it also means appointing a good trustee. Whoever you name as trustee will gain control of everything in the trust. The trustee can only…

If you’ve been thinking about creating an estate plan, you may have learned that wills aren’t the only tools available. In fact, in many cases, wills aren’t even the best tool in your kit. Trusts are often better, and as Barron’s notes, they aren’t just for the ultra-rich. The fact is trusts are extremely flexible. They can do many things…

Many of us make plans thinking that things will always be the same: We will always have relatively good health, our memory and full mobility. But this is, sadly, not always the reality as we age. One question that comes up a lot is whether it is wise to put a house into a trust. While every situation is different,…