Married couples often don’t give much thought to the characterization of their property as community or separate. In general, community property is all real or personal property acquired by a married person during the marriage. Separate property is all property owned by the person before the marriage, all property acquired by the person after marriage by gift, bequest or devise, and the rents and profits from the person’s separate property.

Discussion regarding California’s new Uniform Trust Decanting Act, effective January 1, 2019.

High property values in California highlight the need for careful property tax planning. If you have owned your property for many years, it is likely that your property's assessed value for property tax purposes is significantly lower than today's fair market value. If your property should be reassessed, you or your family members could be faced with a significant increase in the annual property tax.

When most people hear about elder abuse, they think of cruel or apathetic caregivers leaving elderly family and friends unattended or physically abusing them. But elder abuse is more than physical abuse: when someone takes any property - including real estate, cash, or any other asset or interest - from a person over the age of 65 by fraud or undue influence, it constitutes financial elder abuse.

The Federal Government assesses a tax on assets that are gratuitously transferred to another person. Assets transferred during the donor's lifetime are subject to gift tax.

Margaret M Hand discusses Advanced Topics on Probate Accountings (Probate Code section 1060, Fiduciary Truth Serum).