As part of Linda’s estate planning practice, Linda also provides legal services for the administration of trusts and estates following death. These services include:

• Trust administration, including funding of sub-trusts and distributions to beneficiaries
• Probate
• Consultation on the preparation of estate tax and gift tax returns
• Consultation on the preparation of trust and estate income tax returns
• Income tax planning for trusts and estates
• Post mortem procedures to correct errors in estate planning documents or to address changed circumstances

As with estate planning, the administration of a decedent’s trust or estate is a very personal legal service. The process of administering a trust or estate can seem unfamiliar and daunting, especially at a time of grief. Difficult relations between the administrator and grieving beneficiaries, or beneficiaries’ unrealistic expectations, may only increase the stresses and uncertainties. Often, these stresses and uncertainties are compounded by the client’s natural desire to rush through the administrative process as quickly as possible, leading to feelings of being overwhelmed or rushed decisions which might be regretted later.

An attorney must be able to provide both competent legal advice and a compassionate and reassuring approach to assist the client in navigating the trust or estate administration process, step-by-step. Linda has decades of experience in working with grieving clients, with sensitivity to the emotional needs of the client and beneficiaries. Linda’s approach is to identify the unique issues facing the client’s trust or estate administration, to educate the client about the administrative process and their fiduciary and legal duties, and to break the administrative process into simple steps so that the client can feel empowered, rather than overwhelmed, about the process.

In addition, Linda’s goal is to provide trust and estate administration services as efficiently as possible. For probate clients, Linda maintains a billing policy which can produce legal fees substantially lower than the statutory fees assessed under the California Probate Code. In addition, Linda works to educate the client on the administration process and to help the client take as much control over the administration process as the client desires. Quite simply, if the client becomes educated and involved in the administration process, the legal and accounting expenses will be lower, and (more importantly) the client will be better prepared to manage their inherited assets post administration.

Finally, Linda brings a long-term perspective to trust and estate administration. Decisions made in the trust or estate administration process can potentially have very long-term consequences for the beneficiaries’ lives and future taxes. These impactful decisions may include decisions to retain or sell a family business, to distribute assets to all of the beneficiaries equally (pro rata) or to allocate a specific asset to the beneficiary who has the greatest need or can make the best use of that asset (non pro rata), and to make tax elections or asset distributions to achieve the most favorable tax results (either for the estate or the beneficiaries, as appropriate). In working with clients, Linda always seeks to identify those areas where additional attention may be needed, and to make sure that the client has the information necessary, to take those potential long-term consequences into account.