Serving Torrance, the Beach Cities and El Segundo

The goal of our Estate Planning Practice is to assist families and individuals in developing and implementing thoughtful plans for the transmission of wealth and wealth protection. In working with clients on financial and estate planning issues, our attorneys provide a full range of estate succession, gift transfer, and wealth planning services.

We help plan for the orderly transfer of wealth in accordance with the client's wishes by first understanding the client's intentions, reviewing all pertinent financial data, keeping current on constantly changing state and federal tax laws, and drafting the documents (trusts and wills) necessary to implement the estate plan.

We assist clients in creating trusts for minor children and grandchildren, purchasing life insurance and creating trusts to shelter the life insurance proceeds from gift and estate tax, preparing prenuptial agreements, and planning for the continued support of disabled children or other dependents.

We provide wills, living trusts, special needs trusts, powers of attorney, advance health care directives and trust transfer deeds.

Estate Planning is for everyone

Many people make the mistake of thinking that estate planning is for the wealthy—while the wealthy certainly need an estate plan—so does everyone else, no matter what their tax bracket. Because

• You should decide who will care for your minor children if you are incapacitated and unable to care for your children or die
• You should decide who makes your health care and financial decisions in the event you are incapacitated
• You should decide the level of care you receive if you require life support or other heroic measures
• You should decide how you will control and manage your assets during your lifetime
• You should decide how your assets will be used and distributed after your death
• You should be able to keep your financial affairs private and confidential
• You should be able to take advantage of tax planning
• You should be able to avoid probate and its associated costs

If you do not have an estate plan, the California Courts, following California law, will create one for you. Future decisions may be made on your behalf by individuals appointed by the Court; your assets will be distributed by intestate succession laws. If you do not have an estate plan, you place your family and other loved ones in the difficult situation of having to make decisions for you without the benefit of your directions—and at a time when they are emotionally vulnerable or grieving.

A Will and Revocable Living Trust is the proper estate plan for practically everyone. Within a Will, you name your Revocable Living Trust as the instrument setting out your plan for the distribution of your assets to your family, other individuals, and charitable organizations. Your Will also funds your trust by containing a pour-over provision to ensure that all of your property will be held by your Revocable Living Trust. The Revocable Living Trust allows you to direct how you want your assets to be distributed when you die while allowing you total control of those assets while you are living. It also permits you to avoid probate, settle your estate privately and quickly, reduce estate taxes, provide supervision for gifts to minors and delay the receipt of inheritance funds until future dates (e.g., until age 25), protect beneficiaries with special needs, and provide for your spouse during your spouse's lifetime. When you create a Revocable Living Trust, you transfer the title of all of your assets to the trust from yourself as an individual to yourself as the Trustee of the trust. This trust may be revoked or changed at any time during your lifetime. For more information on creating a Will and Revocable Living Trust, please contact us.

Other Estate Planning Tools

There are other estate planning tools that may be appropriate for certain individuals. These include Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRT), credit shelter trusts, charitable lead and charitable remainder trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, and grantor retained annuity trusts, among others. To explore and consider these or any other estate planning tool, please contact us.

Contact our Estate Planning Attorneys

Please contact the Estate Planning lawyers at the Law & Mediation Offices of Pauline Rosen for an initial consultation. We can be reached by phone at (310) 791-4494, by E-mail, or by filling out the intake form on the Contact Us page.

Law & Mediation Offices of Pauline Rosen

1801 S. Catalina Avenue, Suite 103
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Phone: (310) 791-4494
Fax: (310) 791-4493
E-mail