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Clients We Serve
Whether you are a young family, established family, an elder family or a family in crisis, we have the ability and knowledge to help you protect your most valuable assets, which are your loved ones. Keeping your hard earned money in the family or protecting a special need is what we do. We look forward to protecting your family too!
Young Families
Take a few moments to consider what’s your most valuable asset? The correct answer is your child or children. If you have young ones who are dependent on you, they need to be able to depend on something you in place in case you can’t be there.
Your children’s protection plan will provide for your children as you would see fit and work in conjunction with your inheritance plan. As a young family, you might not have many monetary assets and so you might not need a living trust. In your 20s or early 30s, a will is usually sufficient to distribute your assets according to your wishes.
Established Families
Once you are in your 30s and 40s you’ll notice that your family and finances are going to change. It is critical that your accompanying estate plan changes as well. Maybe you now own a home. Maybe you have children that you’re ready to send to college. Maybe you make a lot of money, but you’re in a risky business. Maybe it’s time to get out of the business.
If any of those situations apply to you, it’s time to reexamine your estate plan. A living trust is critical to avoid probate. YOU can prevent your family from going to court and YOU can ensure that your assets are distributed in a way that encourages your children to become responsible adults.
But all of your hard work at creating an estate plan won’t do you a lick of good if you have nothing to pass along, and for this reason, it’s might be time to examine asset protection. Asset protection involves shielding the things that you’ve spent your lifetime earning from creditors, debtors, and lawsuits.
If you are a business owner considering retirement, you’ll also need an exit plan so that in your absence your company remains as productive and profitable as it was during your presence. Business succession planning will ease the transition and allow you to get top dollar when you sell your business interest.
Older Families
There are now more Americans age 65 and older than at any other time in U.S. History. As you age and your needs change, so too must your estate plan.
In Los Angeles, the average skilled nursing facility costs $120,000 per year…and most of us don’t want average care!
If this describes you, then we should discuss whether its in your interest to qualify for MediCal while also preventing the government from placing a lien on your house after your death.
Did you make an advance health care directive, and if you did, is it current? Advances in medical technology occur so rapidly that older directives easily find themselves outdated just like the computers that they were printed on. If this is the case, then this can cause confusion in the hospital, or even worse, a doctor might not honor it.
Is your power of attorney as comprehensive as ours? Does it allow your loved ones to gift assets out of your estate to qualify you for MediCal?
Does it allow your agents to transfer assets into your living trust if you forgot to? Does it allow your loved ones to create or modify your estate plan for changed circumstances in your life?
Seniors have different needs that their estate planning documents must address differently.
Families In Crisis
Sometimes we simply don’t get something important done before a sudden event changes everything. Other times, despite our best efforts, things don’t go according to plan.
If a loved one dies without an estate plan or was not set to avoid probate, orders from probate are required to release assets from the estate to the beneficiaries or heirs of the deceased. If a loved one dies, and their estate is being mismanaged or abused, you have rights worth asserting and an inheritance worth protecting.
Losing a loved one is always difficult and can be made much harder by the stresses of court. We can help you make this transition as easy as possible.
LGBTQIA+ Families Estate Planning for non-traditional individuals and families
LGBTQIA+ Families Estate Planning for non-traditional individuals and families
The LGBTQ+ community is an umbrella term that includes all those who identify as belonging somewhere on the homosexual or transsexual spectrum. Unfortunately, not every state maintains the same rights as others. Additionally, rights on the federal level are also subject to change with each president’s administration.
Nonetheless, same sex marriages are now lawful in all 50 states as a national right.
Since 2013, all married couples in California are to be treated by the federal government as married. What this means is that all married couples, including same-sex couples, are entitled the same rights and legal status. Some examples include, but may not be limited to:
Tax benefits;
Property ownership;
Legal recognition of their relationship in other states;
The ability to divorce in the state of their residence, regardless of where the couple was originally married;
Immigration benefits; and
Federal benefits, such as social security, medical benefits, and life insurance entitlement.
The Gender Recognition Act (California Senate Bill 179) was signed into law and went into full effect January 1st, 2019. In brief, SB 179 streamlines the process for Californians to apply to change their gender markers, and creates a nonbinary gender category on California birth certificates driver’s licenses, identity cards, and gender-change court orders (the letter “x”). This enables many in our community, including transgender, intersex and nonbinary people, to have full recognition in the State of California.
ABOUT US
At C.S. Scarcella & Associates, we help individuals and families protect what matters most through personalized estate planning, trust administration, and probate services.
Our commitment is to provide trusted legal guidance and customized solutions that evolve with your life's changing needs.
REACH US
cs@scarcellaw.com
PHONE
(909) 265-7131
LOCATION
250 West 1st St., Suite 244
Claremont, CA 91711
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