John B. Palley Law Blog

I wasn’t sure what to write about today.  To come up with an inspiration I just looked at my calendar to see what clients I have met with this week. Just yesterday’s clients gave me 3 good ideas. I am going to tell you about my meeting with a man we will call Tom.  Of course that is not his real name. 

He arrived early as he had taken the bus to see me.  He told me he was not a wealthy man but he had two main concerns: 1) who would... Read More

I have had a number of calls lately from people who had a death in the family and need to clear title to real estate. However, the death wasn’t last week or last month… and in one case not even last decade.  In many cases there is no rush to clear title through a probate Court action.  Mom dies, the person is living in the house for free, so what could go wrong….

Well, the problem is there will come a day when you want to sell,... Read More

The percentage of people that actually have a completed estate plan is pretty low.  I don’t know the exact number but it’s well under 50% and could easily be under 20%.  Of those 20-50% of the people who were organized enough to get your estate plan done in the first place should you review it at some point?

Well, the way it often goes is the client signs the estate plan, puts it away and forgets about it. Some people remember to put later acquired  assets... Read More

In the probate world we like to say if there’s a question the answer is in the California Probate Code. However, this wouldn’t apply to people leaving money to their pets, right!?  That only happens in the movies, right!?  Well, guess what… California Probate Code section 15212 covers PET TRUSTS.

Come on, we are California, remember!?  We do everything in a progressive manner!  Probate Code section 15212 in part (a) provides, “(a) ... Read More

Your attorney has recommend you go to mediation to settle the dispute with your brother related to your mom or dad’s death.  Or maybe the probate Judge has ordered you to go to mediation before they will hear your case any more in Court.  Will mediation help you settle your dispute?  In this attorney’s opinion mediation will resolve most situations… but sadly not all. The reason many probate and trust disputes end up in Court is because tensions run very... Read More