What To Do When A Loved One Dies

Few things are as painful or traumatic in our lifetimes, as when a loved one passes away. In addition to the grief which one suffers, there may also be potentially overwhelming legal and accounting details to be handled in the administration of that person’s estate, or making sure that their personal wishes are carried out.

The Hayes Law Firm in South Pasadena, having dealt with such matters for many years, is intimately familiar with that difficult time in the lives of its clients.

The consequences resulting from the death of a loved one will depend on whether the person who’s passed away had the foresight to prepare a trust, or whether they chose to do inadequate planning, or no planning at all.

Whenever anyone chooses to simply prepare a will as their form of estate planning, what they have in fact chosen to do,6 is to require that their surviving loved ones go through the difficult process of having their estate processed through the probate court. If you just have a will, you are required to go through the probate court process. Ironically, if you have no will or no trust you are still required to go through the probate court process if your estate is over $166,250 in value. The only way that you avoid the costs, delays and public exposure of the probate court is to have a trust.

Attorney William Hayes of the Hayes Law Firm, states that in all his years of planning estate documents, he has only prepared one stand alone will. The reason for this is that once he explains to clients the difference between having a will and having a trust, it immediately becomes clear to clients that having a trust is the best option.

Attorney Hayes also says that one of the major gaps that he has found between preparing estate documents for a client and having the loved ones of that client know what to do with them, is quite significant. “The reasonable tendency of people is to name those that they can rely on as either the trustee of their trust, or the executor of their will, or as their agent under powers of attorney. The problem is that most people named to act in those capacities have no idea of what the job entails. You are essentially leaving your loved one with the difficult task of learning how to swim while they’re in the middle of an ocean”.

Because the Hayes Law Firm has witnessed the anxiety and frustration that this regularly causes your loved ones, they decided to come up with a solution.

“We are now offering free webinars to the trustees of your trust, the executors of your will, and the agents you’ve named as your powers of attorney, on how they should operate in the use of these different documents.

Rather than leaving your loved ones with very difficult task to accomplish, let them know that the webinars are now available. Registration for the webinars can be made by visiting the Hayes law firm website at www.losangelestrustlaw.com/seminars or by contacting the Hayes Law Firm today directly at (626) 403-2292.

To learn more about CA Probate, we encourage you to register for one of our FREE CA Probate Webinars! Sign up HERE.

Enjoy Reading “What to do when a loved one dies”? Check out our previous post: New Traditions for the Hereafter

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This website is not intended to be a source of solicitation or legal advice. General information is made available for educational purposes only. The information on this blog is not an invitation for an attorney-client relationship, and website should not be used to substitute for obtaining legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state. Please call us at (626) 403-2292 if you wish to schedule an appointment for a legal consultation.

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William Hayes

As an attorney in private practice in Los Angeles County, California William Hayes provides extensive estate and tax planning services to individuals and businesses in Los Angeles, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank and surrounding communities. Attorney Hayes’ primary focus is to help clients avoid probate, protect their assets, and provide for the security of their loved ones with a well-crafted estate plan. He believes in giving each client the time needed to explain his or her needs and wishes and then dedicates his efforts toward making the client’s desires clear in their final estate plan.

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