For the third year in a row and the forth time overall, Kyle A. Krasa has won the Golden Pine Cone as “Best Estate Planning Attorney” from the readers of the Carmel Pine Cone!

Although the award goes to the “Best Estate Planning Attorney,” this is really the result of a team effort!

Thank you to the wonderful staff at KRASA LAW, Inc. of Marilyn Beans, Tamana Ayubi, Sara Macfarlane, and Cathrina Bonnelli who are all self-starters and as committed to the clients and the work as is Kyle. 

Thank you to the clients of KRASA LAW, Inc. who continue to show their trust in the firm and who support it in numerous ways.

Voting is open for the 2018 “Golden Pine Cone” awards from the Carmel Pine Cone.  You can vote for your favorite businesses, including “Best Estate Planning Attorney.”  Below are instructions on how to vote:

ALREADY SUBSCRIBED TO THE ELECTRONIC EDITION OF THE CARMEL PINE CONE

• Click on the “Golden Pine Cone Awards” Ballot

• Click on the “Services and Health Care” section
• Scroll to the very bottom, and then click on the “Next” button
• Scroll to Number 38 (“Best Estate Planning Attorney)
• Tap in “Kyle Krasa, Krasa Law”
• Click on “Submit”

NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE ELECTRONIC EDITION 

• Please access the Web site (Read More

Celebrities are notorious for their estate planning blunders. I have several posters in my office that document the many mistakes that celebrities have made with regard to their estate planning. From Elvis Presley failing to properly plan for the federal estate tax, to Marilyn Monroe accidentally leaving the royalties of her likeness (worth millions of dollars) to a woman she never even met, to baseball great Ted Williams who did not leave clear instructions about how to handle his remains, it almost seems that failure to get one’s affairs in order is a prerequisite to becoming a star. However, there is one celebrity who recently passed away who might have been a celebrity anomaly. 

Actor Burt Reynolds recently passed away at the age of 82.

My law school Civil Procedure professor often said: “You write the law and I’ll write the procedure and I will win every time.” His point was that understanding and following proper procedure is often more important than understanding the substantive law itself. While it might often feel like “form over function,” procedural rules are designed to ensure due process.

In the estate planning context, following the proper procedure for executing legal documents that legally effectuate your testamentary intent is critical. Below are three common procedural mistakes that people make when attempting “do-it-yourself” estate planning as well as possible solutions.

Legendary singer Aretha Franklin recently passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer.  A few days after her death, it was revealed that Ms. Franklin had joined the very popular “club” of celebrity estate planning blunders. Mr. Franklin – with all her wealth, her illness, and professional advisors – failed to create an estate plan.

Last week, to celebrate the reopening of Highway One, Visit California, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and the California Highway Patrol arranged a convoy of over 80 cars from Monterey to Morro Bay, each representing a model year from each year that the famous route has been in existence. Members of the media traveled in each car to write about their adventures and to spread the word that Highway One is again open for business.  The convoy stopped in Ventana for brunch, at Hearst Ranch for hors d’oeuvres, and at Morro Rock for dinner.

I was fortunate enough to have been invited to participate with my beloved 1953 Chevy Bel Air, “Maybellene,” named after the Chuck Berry song of course! The media members who rode with me were a husband and wife travel writing team, Hannah and Adam, who own a travel website, www.gettingstamped.

Legal dramas are popular.  Hollywood has an endless supply of television shows and movies featuring lawyers in an assortment of situations.  Many non-lawyers ask me whether these programs are an accurate reflection of the legal profession.  I often respond by relating an anecdote from when I studied for the Bar Exam: to prepare for the legal ethics portion of the Exam, our instructors advised us to watch any legal show and write down all the ethical rules that the characters routinely break!  In another words: in real life, lawyers couldn’t get away with anything that makes for engaging entertainment.    

Lately my wife and I started watching the USA Network television legal drama, Suits.

I have been writing a bi-weekly column for the Cedar Street Times and its predecessor, The Pacific Grove Hometown Bulletin, since 2007.  Although the content of my column sometimes varies, it mainly focuses upon aspects of estate planning.  I am often asked – and I sometimes wonder myself – if I will ever run out of topics about which to write!  However, there always seems to be something new that I can say about this vast and highly nuanced area of the law.  Indeed, being able to apply complex legal concepts to a host of varied applications requires an almost infinite infrastructure of knowledge, the pursuit of which never ends.  While that can sometimes feel daunting, I am encouraged by a famous quote from Albert Einstein: “The only thing that you absolutely have to know is the location of the library.

This article is courtesy of guest columnist Beverly Nelson, the operator of standupforcaregivers.org.

There are a few times in everyone’s life when words fail and we just don’t know what to say to someone else. One of the most awkward situations anyone will ever face is having to discuss death and end-of-life arrangements with a loved one. If you aren’t tongue-tied and at an absolute loss for how to begin such a discussion, you’re apt to be harshly self-critical for not having said the “right thing.” It’s a necessary conversation, but some people never figure out how or when to broach the subject, even with someone they’ve known their entire lives. Anxiety, sadness, guilt, and fear may afflict you all at once. The important thing to remember is that there’s no right or wrong way to handle it. Every situation and individual is different. But there are several tips that can help you find ways to be open and honest with a loved one who faces their own mortality.

As American society is becoming more litigious, there is the increasing threat that you might end up on the wrong side of a lawsuit even if you did not intend any wrongdoing. Car accidents, health bills that exceed the coverage of your health insurance, bad business deals, and professional malpractice can all present threats to your hard-earned assets.  Estate planning can provide many opportunities for asset protection planning. 

Traditionally, the law has not allowed asset protection for persons who establish trusts for their own benefit with their own assets.  Some states, such as Nevada, Delaware, and Alaska, created statutory exceptions to this general rule that allow people to utilize special types of trusts to create asset protection for their own assets.