Estate planning, administration, and litigation in California
One frequent topic of interest to people serving as trustees – and to people whose inheritances are being (mis?) managed by trustees – is exactly what the trustee is obligated to do. The following is a description of the main duties of a trustee of an irrevocable trust in California:
AB 1676, passed during the 2005 Legislative session, makes further changes to California’s little-known Healthcare Directive Registry. California law allows registration of an Advance Health Care Directive with the Secretary of State; the new legislation directs the Secretary of State to work with the Attorney General and the Department of Health Services to develop written information about Advance Health Care Directives, and to make that information available on the websites of the Secretary of State, the Department of Health Services, the Attorney General, the Department of Managed Health Care, the Department of Insurance, the Board of Registered Nursing, and the Medical Board of California.
Last year, the California Legislature passed – and Governor Schwarzenegger signed – legislation (AB 12) directing the California Law Review Commission to study California’s current methods for transferring property at death, the methods used in other states for transferring property at death, and to consider whether or not California should allow the use of “Ladybird” or “beneficiary deeds”. What is a Ladybird deed, and why should you care?
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