San Ramon Estate Planning Law Firm
Overview
With nine offices throughout California, CunninghamLegal is one of the leading estate planning firms in the state -- and the nation. Led by well-known attorney James L. Cunningham, author of the best-selling "Savvy Estate Planning: What You Need to Know Before You Talk to the Right Lawyer," this extensive practice handles everything from the simplest to the most complex estates, trusts, and successions.
The firm is headquartered in Auburn, but offers dynamic, established estate...
With nine offices throughout California, CunninghamLegal is one of the leading estate planning firms in the state -- and the nation. Led by well-known attorney James L. Cunningham, author of the best-selling "Savvy Estate Planning: What You Need to Know Before You Talk to the Right Lawyer," this extensive practice handles everything from the simplest to the most complex estates, trusts, and successions.
The firm is headquartered in Auburn, but offers dynamic, established estate...
With nine offices throughout California, CunninghamLegal is one of the leading estate planning firms in the state -- and the nation. Led by well-known attorney James L. Cunningham, author of the best-selling "Savvy Estate Planning: What You Need to Know Before You Talk to the Right Lawyer," this extensive practice handles everything from the simplest to the most complex estates, trusts, and successions.
The firm is headquartered in Auburn, but offers dynamic, established estate lawyers in locations across both Southern and Northern California, including Folsom, Roseville, Sacramento, San Ramon, Huntington Beach, Pasadena, Westlake Village, and Woodland Hills.
CunninghamLegal offers comprehensive services in:
- California Estate Planning -- how your assets will move to the next generation
- California Living Trust Creation -- the vehicle for moving those assets
- Professional Trust Administration -- after a death
- Asset Protection -- special measures to guard against divorce, bankruptcy, and lawsuits
- Elder Law -- for incapacity, long-term care, and protection
- Probate Law -- savvy strategies in California courtrooms
- Medi-Cal Planning -- safeguarding your assets as you qualify for aid
- Special Needs Planning -- trusts and guardianships for those who need them most
- Private Real Estate Transactions – Complex family transfers, Prop 13 maintenance, investment sales
- Corporate Documentation -- managing your filings and records
- Estate Tax Planning -- so your estate is not consumed by taxation
Unlike many firms, CunninghamLegal focuses solely on estate planning, and includes a number of attorneys certified by the State Bar of California as Specialists in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law -- a rare and respected qualification. The firm educates clients with a wide array of legal webinars and special events, and takes a highly personalized and custom approach to every situation.
Importantly, the firm also offers unusual and significant expertise in taxation and financial planning -- for both you and your heirs. Often, this means proactively working directly with your CPA and financial planner.
Loved Ones Saved from Probate
CunninghamLegal calls itself "The Living Trust Lawyers" for good reason. A living trust is not just the heart of a modern estate plan -- it's truly a requirement for anyone with more than very minor assets. Without a living trust created by a competent estate attorney, your loved ones will face a complex, expensive, public, and often messy legal process known as probate.
Probate in California typically takes a year or more and requires many thousands of dollars. In larger estates, probate may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Far too often, probate creates conflict among family members as they stand in front of a judge and argue their rights to your assets.
Even a properly written last will & testament is not enough to move your accounts, properties, and other assets smoothly to the next generation. Indeed, a will is little more than a letter you wrote to a probate judge expressing your desires.
A Living Trust is a kind of legal "box" you create with the help of a lawyer. Into this box you place all your assets, and during your lifetime you are both the "trustee" or controller of the box, and the "beneficiary" of everything the box contains. If you're married, you and your spouse are typically both trustees and beneficiaries.
When you die, a "successor trustee" named by you simply and efficiently gets handed the box. Often that's a family member, but it could be a professional. The job of that trustee is to dole out the assets from the box to the new beneficiaries you named during your lifetime.
A living trust is crucial, but "cookie cutter" will not do. Each trust needs to be crafted exactly for your situation. Do you have minor children? A disabled loved one? A blended family? Are you facing a divorce? Do you own a business? Might your assets trigger an estate tax, sometimes known as the "death tax"? Who can you trust to administer your estate, really?
Such questions demand focused expertise.
Vital Considerations in Choosing an Estate Attorney
It matters that CunninghamLegal works solely in estate planning. No part of the law changes more quickly -- or creates more personal consequences from bad planning. The CunninghamLegal lawyers don't just offer regular legal webinars and conversations to educate their clients, they devote countless hours to staying current with new rulings, case law, and strategies.
Too often, plans are lost decades after being created -- or have become hopelessly outdated. Continuity is critical to estate planning -- as records must be archived and maintained for the future, with a continuous thread of practice. That means a larger firm offers meaningful advantages to any family. CunninghamLegal has been in business for over 26 years, and has taken over practices from number of reputable lawyers as they retired, often as solo operators. It's equally critical that plans are revised based on births, deaths, marriages, divorces, bankruptcies and more. With its significant resources, and ongoing Legacy Care programs, CunninghamLegal can ensure that an estate plan remains meaningful, orderly, and available when it is needed most.
The firm offers a free 15-minute consultation with a lawyer with no obligation. Literally everyone over age 18 needs an estate plan, so CunninghamLegal provides highly-expert services at surprisingly reasonable rates.
The CunninghamLegal attorneys urge you not to delay this vital work for your loved ones. Visit the website at www.cunninghamlegal.com, sign up for a legal webinar, read the expert blogs, view an archive of pre-recorded legal webinars, or book a consultation today.
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