Estate Planning-Living Trusts

Contact us for your estate planning needs. We are not a run of the mill estate planning shop where secretaries fill out almost same template documents for every client. At Madnawat Law, you will have the attorney sit down with you to discuss your specific needs and advise a right course of action. The Firm will prepare Living Trust, Pour-Over Will, HIPPA Directives/Authorization, Durable Power of Attorney, Health Care Directives, Custom Deeds for transferring properties to your trust, Property Memorandum, and other necessary documents.

Your complete satisfation is guaranteed. Even though we are not the cheapest on the block, our rates are very affordable. Brief consultation is free.

Please fill out the intake form after first speaking with us on phone.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a will?
What is a living trust?
What happens when a person leaves no will?
Which type of estate planning is best for me?
What is a medical directive?
What is a durable power of attorney?

What is a will?

A will is a legal document that allows a person to direct the final distribution of assets at his or her death according to his or her wishes. A will becomes operational only after the death and can be changed at anytime prior to death.

What is a living trust?

A living trust is an entity which can be used to hold and manage assets per a person's wishes during his lifetime and after. As opposed to a will, a trust remains a private document and entity; assests held in trust are passed to the beneficiaries without probate proceedings. Avoiding probate saves money and time. A revocable trust may be revoked at anytime during the lifetime of the person who created the trust. There are different types of trusts, some of which may be used for substantial tax savings. For example, a irrevocable life insurance trust can be used to reduce estate tax liability. A special need trust can be setup to take care of a spacial need person. A special type of trust for tax purpose for non-US citizen spouse, etc.

What happens when a person leaves no will?

If a person dies without a will or a trust, all assets are placed in a probate and a probate court decides how the assets be distributed among heirs. This could take a long time and would cost a substantial amount of money (which comes from the estate). Further, if no legal heirs are found, the assets are transferred to the state. Without a will or a trust, state laws provides a default distribution to known heirs based on their degree of kinship.

Which type of estate planning is best for me?

An attorney may provide guidance in this regard based on specific situations such as the size of the estate and other factors.

What is a medical directive?

A medical directive (also known as advance health care directives, living wills, advance directives, or advance decisions) is instructions given by a person specifying what actions should be taken for his/her health in the event that he/she is no longer able to make decisions due to illness or incapacity.

What is a durable power of attorney?

If a person cannot conduct business due to mental or physical incapacity (due to a decease, etc.), a court will appoint a person to sign for the person - even if the person have a will. A will effective at death. The court will continue intervening until the person recovers or dies. The court, not the family or the person, controls how your assets are used to care for you. A durable power of attorney enables a person to give authority to another person (person's agent or attorney-in-fact) to make financial/legal decisions and financial transactions on your behalf. It remains effective even if the principle becomes mentally incompetent. Any trusted adult, such as a spouse, partner, relative or friend, can serve as attorney-in-fact. If no trusted person is available, there are several nonprofit agencies that can fill this role. It is always a good idea to name at least one alternate attorney-in-fact to serve in the event that your first choice becomes unavailable for some reason. Your attorney-in-fact will have broad authority (which can be limited based on person's desire), and it is critical that the person or agency you choose be trustworthy and sensitive to your wishes.

Disclaimer: The materials on this web site have been prepared for general information purposes only. These materials do not, and are not intended to, constitute legal advice. You should not act, or refrain from acting, based upon any information at this web site. The information on this web site may not reflect the most current legal developments and is not guaranteed to be correct, complete or up-to-date. Information on this web site should not be taken as a promise or indication of future results.

Ethical Issues

In connection with a potential question of professional responsibility regarding multiple representations of you and your spouse, I would like to explain certain ethical guidelines. The rules of ethical conduct for attorneys essentially prohibit multiple representations if the exercise of a lawyer's independent professional judgment on behalf of one client will be or is likely to be adversely affected by his representation of another client. There is, however, an exception to the foregoing rule of conduct. A lawyer may represent multiple clients if it is obvious that he can adequately represent the interest of each and if each consents to the representation after full disclosure of the possible effect of such representation on the exercise of the lawyer's independent professional judgment on behalf of each client.

Each of you has a right to obtain separate legal counsel to represent you in all matters relating to this engagement. Based on the information you have provided, I believe that we can represent each of you on an impartial basis. However, with respect to the attorney-client privilege, I advise you that any information disclosed by you to me in connection with this engagement will not be, protected by the privilege in a subsequent legal proceeding asserted by or against one of you involving another of you. Moreover, I believe I cannot effectively represent each of you if information disclosed to us by one of you must be preserved by us in confidence from the other. If I am to represent both of you, it will only be on the express understanding that each of you have waived the attorney-client privi1ege to the extent, but only to the extent, that the privilege might otherwise require me to preserve in confidencial information disclosed by one of you to me from another of you.

At this time there does not appear to be any difference of opinion between you with regard to the major issues related to this engagement. However, should we later determine that there are material differences between you on an issue that you cannot resolve on an amicable basis or that we conclude cannot be resolved on terms compatible with the best interest of each party involved, then we must at that time withdraw from representation. If this occurs, I will, if you wish, assist each of you in obtaining new counsel. You would, of course, be responsible for payment of all our accrued legal fees and any outstanding expenses I have advanced on your behalf.

With regard to confidentiality, I shall assume, based upon husband/wife's involvement, that I have your consent to consult with him/her and provide him with copies of correspondence and drafts of documents, if he so requests.

If you are married, please have your spouse read this page. You both would need to agree and consent to the joint representation. If anyone of you do not agree, please do not submit the intake form until you speak with the attorney.

Call us to setup an appointment. Our office is conveniently located in Milpitas, near Great Mall and the following towns: Fremont, San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Campbell.

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