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.
Transmutation is an interspousal agreement or transfer, with or without consideration, that changes the characterization of property. Transmutation can accomplish any of the following: 1) transmute community property to separate property of either spouse, 2) transmute separate property of either spouse to community property or 3) transmute separate property of one spouse to separate property of the other spouse.
This presentation will provide an analysis of the statutory grounds affording estate planners the opportunity to petition the court for approval of the estate plan during the settler’s life.
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.
Ryan Szczepanik and Michael Gerson will discuss a litigator’s perspective to handling disputes to fiduciary accounting.