Generally, cremated (or hydrolyzed) remains can be scattered anywhere that isn't explicitly prohibited, so long as
(1) The remains are not distinguishable to the public
(2) Are not in a container, and
(3) The person who has control over the remains has obtained written permission of the property owner or governing agency to scatter on the property.
See California Health and Safety Code §7116(a).
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The coronavirus pandemic is a good reminder of the importance of having your estate plan prepared. Here are the basic documents you should have in the event you become incapacitated or pass away.
The agent that you select under a durable power of attorney can generally take care of your financial affairs if you are no longer able to act for yourself. The agent may be able to transact with financial institutions on your behalf as well as to sign legal paperwork or file your taxes.
Like the Durable Power of Attorney, the Advance Health Care Directive allows you to select an agent to make health care decisions for you. The agent can also speak to medical professionals on your behalf. Due to privacy laws surrounding medical information, this document may be the only way anyone can get information about your health situation.
Most estate plans today utilize a revocable living trust to avoid the various hurdles of the costly and time-consuming probate process at the time of your death. The revocable living trust also has the added benefit of providing a plan for the management of your trust assets in the event that you become incapacitated. The key to utilizing a revocable trust effectively is to ensure that appropriate assets have been properly transferred to your trust.
For most people, the revocable living trust is the primary document that describes how their assets are to be distributed. However, Wills are still prepared as part of a complete estate plan and are usually where guardians for minor children are nominated. Typically, clients who have a revocable living trust also have an accompanying “pour-over” Will that states that any assets that the client may have forgotten to put into the trust while they were alive be put into the trust after their death. The person in charge of carrying out the wishes in your Will is known as the Executor, and is often the same person as the successor Trustee of your revocable living trust.
If you have a revocable trust as part of your estate plan, you should also make sure that any bank and investment accounts, real estate, or any other asset (other than retirement accounts and life insurance policies) are re-titled in the name of your revocable living trust. This will ensure that those assets will be distributed in accordance with your trust rather than your Will (the latter of which may require a probate proceeding).
Some assets are only distributed by way of beneficiary designation forms. Typically, life insurance and retirement accounts (e.g., IRAs, 401ks, SEP-IRAs, etc.) fall into this category. It is therefore critical that you review these from time to time to make sure that you’ve named the appropriate beneficiaries.
This is rarely mentioned, but practically speaking, simply putting together a list of your assets can be immensely helpful to your Trustee, Executor, or beneficiaries. Often, when a person dies, his or her family members do not know where to look for the assets. A simple list with information such as the address of any real estate that you own, the places where you have banking or investment accounts, or the legal names of the businesses that you own can greatly reduce the burden faced by your loved ones.
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It is not often that clients own stocks held in their individual names. Usually these stocks will be held through one or more brokerage or investment accounts owned by the individual. Transferring stocks held in one's name to a revocable living trust requires dealing with the so-called "transfer agent," which is a time-consuming process and entails additional documents such as an Affidavit of Domicile and Medallion Signature Guarantee.
Because of the additional steps required to transfer shares of stock held individually, it is well worth it to consider consolidating these individual stocks into a brokerage account. By doing so, one is able to deal directly with a financial institution, which is generally more responsive than a stock transfer agent. Moreover, holding the stocks through a brokerage account eliminates the risk of losing stock certificates.
The financial institution holding the stock certificates also makes it much easier for you to transfer the stock in the future, should you choose to do so.
For most families, their primary residence is the most valuable asset they own. As such, transfers of said property to the client's trust is a crucial and central part of the estate planning process.
The process of transferring real property to a trust is not complicated. It basically entails the recording of a deed in the Recorder's Office of the county where the property is located. The deed contains critical information such as the identity(ies) of the transferring party and the receiving party, as well as the legal description of the property to be transferred.
Unfortunately most individuals who try to "DIY" (do-it-yourself) their estate plan fail to take the proper actions to transfer their home to their living trust. As a result, after the individual's death and unbeknownst to him or her, the beneficiaries discover that the individual was under the mistaken belief that simply creating a trust was adequate to avoid probate (usually a primary motivation for creating a living trust).
If you own real property and also have a trust, it's not a bad idea to check the title to your home and ensure that it is in the name of your trust. A real estate professional or your estate planning lawyer should be able to do this for you.