Torrance & South Bay Estate Planning & Probate Lawyer
Skilled legal assistance with the highest level of personal attention to client needs and goals
Samuel Ford Law provides skilled and experienced legal guidance for families in Torrance and throughout the South Bay as they create end-of-life documents such as wills and trusts, as well as guiding them in making important decisions about business succession strategies and estate tax planning. Our Torrance estate planning & probate lawyer will work closely with you to understand your unique situation and tailor your estate plan to fit your individual needs and goals. No matter your situation, Samuel Morison is dedicated to giving you the personal attention you deserve and will draft an estate plan tailored to your individual needs and to help you take care of those you love.
A voice you can trust on the legal issues that matter most
The decisions you make about your estate are some of the most important choices you’ll ever make. While you may no longer be physically present, providing for family, friends, and charitable organizations after your death will allow you to continue to care for those you loved most.
What is probate? How can our firm help you navigate probate?
A South Bay probate and estate administration lawyer from Samuel Ford Law will be able to assist you with all probate matters during the stressful time of losing a loved one. Probate is one of the final stages of passing wealth from one generation to the next. Depending on the size of the estate, the will, and the complexity of the assets, the probate process might become quite overwhelming for someone who is not a lawyer. Let a top probate attorney in Torrance, CA, guide you through this process and help take your mind off this complicated task during an already trying time.
Our team can guide you with the knowledge of which estates and assets must go through probate and when. An experienced probate administration attorney will know when a petition might be filed with the court for exemptions from probate, therefore maximizing wealth that could be passed on to family members and loved ones. The probate process can take anywhere from twelve months to several years. With an experienced probate and estate administration law firm by your side, the length of time will be compacted due to their expertise and knowledge of probate law.
If you find yourself in need of an experienced probate lawyer, consult with a member of the Samuel Ford team by calling 310-755-0383 today.
Seasoned guidance when drafting a complete and reliable estate plan
If you’re in your 30s or 40s, you might believe that planning for what will happen to your property when you die is something you won’t need to do until you’re old. Unfortunately, life is not always so straightforward. Accidents or serious illnesses can strike at any time without warning. Even when a traumatic accident or disease doesn’t result in a loss of life, it can leave you incapacitated and unable to manage your affairs, either temporarily or permanently. Should these events strike before you have taken the time to create an estate plan or health care directives, your family members and loved ones will be left scrambling to determine a path forward, all without knowing your wishes for your property and medical care.
Estate plans aren’t just for the elderly. Anyone who owns real estate, has children, or possesses substantial assets must consider what will happen to those persons and things should they no longer be available to provide direction. At Samuel Ford Law, we are committed to helping South Bay families of all ages and levels of wealth throughout all stages of planning for incapacity or end of life. Let us strategize with you regarding how to leave behind the most substantial gifts you can to their loved ones, and develop the documents and legal instruments that will be most effective in carrying out these wishes. Contact our Torrance offices to schedule a consult on your estate planning needs.
Creating an estate plan is so much more than drafting a will
Dying without a will, known as dying “intestate,” can result in chaos for surviving families and spouses, not to mention a lengthy process for dividing assets and a high potential for legal action by survivors who are dissatisfied with the result. Any adult should, at minimum, draft a last will and testament that will allocate their assets to those people and institutions they most want to thrive. While the creation of only a will is better than leaving no estate plan at all, drafting a will is only one step in the process of creating a comprehensive estate plan.
A complete estate plan will cover periods of incapacity during life as well as what happens at your death, and at a minimum should include a will, a durable power of attorney and an advance health care directive. Most people will also need a revocable living trust, which will hold most of your assets and will control their disposition at your death and potentially long afterward.
Through our estate planning process, Samuel Ford Law offers you greater certainty that your heirs and giftees will receive the full benefit of that with which you’ve entrusted them, and that your affairs will be handled with care and attention when you are unable to handle them.
We help to make estate planning easier and pain-free for you and your family!
Samuel Ford Law would like to make estate planning less stressful for you, your family, and your loved ones. In order to ensure that your estate passes to your heirs efficiently inexpensively, while protecting your assets. Our office in Torrance, California, will gladly guide you in each of the following areas:
- Wills– legal documents that itemize your wishes regarding your children, assets, and property after your death
- Trusts– part of an estate plan in which a third party holds assets on the behalf of a beneficiary
- Powers of attorney– legal documents that allow a person to act in place of another person
- Healthcare Directives– legal documents that explain how a person would like to be taken care of medically across end-of-life stages, taking the stress of decision-making off your family and loved ones
- Living Wills– legal documents that spell out specifically what a person’s medical preferences are for end-of-life decisions, taking the decision-making off loved ones
- Blended Families Planning– legal documents that provides for distribution of property and wealth to the current spouse and how it is distributed once that current spouse dies
- Business Succession Planning– legal plan that states who will own or run your business upon your passing
- Gift and Estate Tax Planning– strategies to help keep your taxes lower and pass your wealth to your beneficiary
- Property Tax Planning– projections of how much property tax might be paid over time
An estate plan can range from a simple will that only addresses family, friends, pets, and charities to a plan that needs to address multigenerational wealth and how it will be distributed. Call 310-755-0383 today to schedule a consultation with expert Torrance estate planning attorney at Samuel Morison Ford Law. We can help ease any anxiety about what might happen to your estate in the future.
Get a trustworthy attorney’s help when navigating probate in Southern California courts
The process of probate has a bad reputation, and with good reason. Probating an estate in California courts can require months—often years—to complete and requires many hours of work on complex financial documents. While it may feel like an honor bestowed in trust to be designated as the executor of a loved one’s estate, handling probate without skilled legal help can feel confusing and exhausting.
If you’re facing the process of probate of a loved one’s estate in the Los Angeles South Bay, don’t go through it alone. Contact Samuel Ford Law in Torrance for compassionate and attentive guidance throughout the California probate process. Let our offices handle the challenging bureaucratic process of probate so that you can focus on more important personal needs after a loved one’s death.
Create documents that will guide your loved ones when making important choices about your health when you’re incapacitated
Death may not be the only time that we are rendered unable to make choices about the management of our affairs. In some cases, a disease, illness, or accident may leave us either briefly or permanently unable to care for and manage our property, or even to speak for ourselves. While we hope that these events never come to pass, it is important to create a plan in case they do. Samuel Ford Law can help you draft documents that will designate someone you trust to act with power of attorney, whether over your finances, your medical decisions, or both. Our Torrance estate planning offices can also work with you to create a business succession plan, designing a tax-efficient handoff strategy and designating those you believe will be capable and ready to carry out your vision for your closely-held business when you no longer can.
Create your California estate plan with an attorney you can trust
At the Torrance offices of Samuel Ford Law, we take our responsibility seriously when providing thorough and well-designed estate plans for our clients. Allow us to guide you as you make the choices that will shape your legacy going forward. Contact an experienced and conscientious Torrance estate planning & probate lawyer in the South Bay of Los Angeles at Samuel Ford Law.
