VA Look Back 2018 Net Income Rules for Aid & Attendance, Housebound, and Basic Eligibility In September of 2018, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released new rules for non-service connected disability pensions. These are needs-based pension [...]

Holographic Will pursuant to CA Probate Code Section 6111 What Is a Holographic Will in California? Any Will that has been written out by hand and signed by the testator is a Holographic Will; compared to the Will created by an Attorney which wou [...]

Probate and Creditors Probate and creditors and the challenge of who can administer an estate can be a tricky. From time to time, we at Beyer Pongratz and Rosen encounter the idea that a creditor could be a potential executor under a Probate. In [...]

Estate Recovery Program “Straight from the horse’s mouth – Department of Healthcare Services” What is Estate Recovery? The Medi-Cal program must seek repayment from the estates of certain deceased Medi-Cal members. Repayment only applies to benefi [...]

Portability of Estate Tax Exemption On December 17, 2010, President Obama signed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 ("TRUIRJCA" for short) into law. As part of this law, significant modifications [...]

Probate Details Probate details can make an already difficult situation feel overwhelming. The specifics for probate accounting are crucial to probate cases and often require exact numbers; not always as straightforward or as easy as they may see [...]

Understanding Probate Understanding probate can be a confusing and overwhelming task. The court system has very specific procedures and documentation required for probate and, after a loved one has passed, it can be extremely confusing to deal with [...]

Is the California LLC the BEST WAY to Protect your business or yourself in California? Probably Not. This is a controversial issue, with Proponents and Opponents on both sides. This is my opinion after researching the topic. However, let’s first [...]

California Law on Loans, Notes, Interest and Usury Are You Charging an Illegal Interest Rate on a Loan or Promissory Note? Many people wrongfully believe they can charge whatever amount of interest the market with bear. Unfortunately, that is not [...]

How Do I Structure My Business? Business structure is important to each and every business. Whether big or small, a business needs to be structured in such a way as to reduce taxation, ensure control of the business with the right individuals, and [...]

Undue Influence in Estate Planning Estate planning is a complicated process where different family members have to interact with each other in new ways. Family members, during this process, can be caught in vulnerable positions and taken advantage [...]

How to save taxes after the Tax Reduction Act of 2017 Life after Tax Reduction Act is possible! But, life has changed! What we have been doing to reduce our taxes mostly won’t work anymore. You used to itemize and save many taxes on your return, bu [...]

Save Taxes on Property Transfers CAN YOU TRANSFER YOUR PROPERTY TO ANOTHER WITHOUT THE PROPERTY TAXES BEING RAISED?On June 6, 1978, the state of California voters approved a proposition known as proposition 13. This was created to stop the rapid ri [...]