Philip J. Hoskins Law Newsletter

From Philip J. Hoskins, Attorney at Law

spRING edition

May, 2009

Welcome to this special edition of the Latest Law News. This newsletter is brought to you by Philip J Hoskins and is meant to give you the latest news and information on estate planning and related news for Californians.

As we mature, new a different issues and challenges come to us. Many of them are confusing and answers to common questions are not always readily available. An excellent resource for many of these issues is available and free.

The State Bar of California has issued a revision of its “Seniors and the Law” pamphlet. The 16 page “Guide for Maturing Californians” is filled with useful information about a wide range of issues faced by seniors, such as:

The California legislature approved new laws that are sure to please pet custodians.

Formerly, enforcement of gifts on behalf of pets often were left to the good will of the person to whom the animal and often money were made. It was not always clear who could challenge the beneficiary of such a gift or how it could be brought to court if the donor’s intentions were not being followed.

That has changed dramatically with the new laws which now provide for enforcement and accountability of such gifts.

Funds given for the care of a pet may now only be used for the pet and not any human except for the benefit of the animal. The law gives a much wider range of people the right to enforce the trust and inspect the animal’s condition. Any “person interested in the welfare of the animal” can now bring  an action to enforce the terms. That is a very broad category and may include animal rights organizations.

Pet trusts are not the same as a gift to someone of your animal companion and some money. With this new law you can create a trust specifically for a pet in your trust or will.

The new laws are yet untested and are subject of some uncertainty and controversy.  If you would like more information or are considering a “pet trust” please call me.

If you have already retained me to provide estate plan documents for you but have yet to complete the information forms, there is good news! I have changed the forms and improved their usability. The forms will require you to download the free Adobe Reader version 9, however.

While you can use the older versions of the forms, I much prefer you get the new ones because they will organize your information in a way that produces better draft documents.

The new forms are available at http://www.pjhoskins.com/client%20forms.htm or just send me an email and I will send them to you.  Now get going!

Summer can be a lazy time of year and it is easy to let things slide. Good intentions to plan your estate are notoriously easy to ignore, and summer can be even more so.

So if you need some extra incentive to either get started with your estate planning or review and revise an existing one, I will give you a bit of a nudge with an offer of $50 off your fees if you retain me by June 10, 2009.

Philip J. Hoskins

Attorney at Law

10940 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1400

Los Angeles, CA 90024

310-209-8080; fax 310-208-8582

 www.pjhoskins.com

Nothing contained in this email is intended as advice on any issue discussed nor is intended or create an attorney-client relationship.

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