Preston Estate Planning, APLC

Preston Estate Planning, APLC Preston Estate Planning has 40+ years of experience protecting families and legacies. Contact us today! Preston Estate Planning, A.P.L.C.

Our mission is to ensure peace of mind with specialized estate planning solutions. For informational purposes only, nothing below is legal advice. is a full service estate planning law firm that has been in practice for over 40 years. As California State Bar Certified Specialists in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law, we pride ourselves on using our considerable knowledge and expertise to pro

tect families by preserving their assets, for them and their posterity. While other estate planning law firms primarily focus on avoiding probate, Preston Estate Planning takes on additional challenges facing families such as disability problems, minimizing the capital gains tax dilemma, and making sure assets stay in the family. Our goal is to provide you with the same level of protection and service that we provide to our own families.

06/20/2026

Are your accounts actually titled in your trust or just listed on paper? ⚖️

06/17/2026

“All I need is a will.”

Not exactly 👀

A will can say where your assets should go, but if those assets are stuck in probate, a judge still has to make it official. That means court, delays, and extra work before your beneficiaries can receive anything ⚖️

The goal? Set things up so the will doesn’t have to be used at all.

Do you know which of your assets would still go through probate?

06/16/2026

When a spouse inherits a retirement account, the old backup beneficiaries typically don’t stay on the account.

So even if children were listed before, the surviving spouse may need to name new beneficiaries again. If that step gets missed, the account can accidentally trigger probate later ⚖️

If you inherited an account from your spouse, have you checked who is listed as beneficiary now?

06/15/2026

Retirement accounts are different for a reason 💸

IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, TSPs, and 403(b)s all come with special tax treatment.

That’s why putting them directly into your living trust can be treated like a withdrawal and nobody wants to accidentally lose those tax benefits.

The better move is usually naming the right beneficiaries instead. Are your retirement beneficiaries updated and listed correctly? 👀

06/10/2026

What if one spouse has Alzheimer’s… but was never removed as trustee?

This happens more often than people think.

One spouse starts picking up the slack.
They pay the bills.
They manage the accounts.
They keep everything moving.

And because the other spouse isn’t causing obvious financial harm, they may stay listed as trustee for years.

But “I handled it myself” is not the same as having a clear incapacity plan.

Would your trust still work smoothly if one spouse quietly took over everything? 📝

06/08/2026

What if everything your family needs is locked in your phone?

Email, account access, passwords, documents, bills so much of modern life lives on one device.

Legacy contacts may help after death, but incapacity can be a different situation. If someone needs to help while you’re still living, they may need a separate access plan.

Because knowing the information exists is not the same as being able to reach it 📱🔐

Would your trusted person be able to access your phone if they truly needed to?

06/06/2026

A trust only works if your accounts are actually in it.

Even checking and savings accounts matter.

That’s where bills get paid, pensions come in, Social Security lands, and daily finances keep moving.

If those accounts were never funded into the trust, your trustee may not be able to step in the way you expected.

Small account. Big access issue 🏦

06/05/2026

Can’t you just resign as trustee before incapacity becomes a problem?

In theory, yes.
In reality, most people wait too long.

By the time family notices something is wrong, the person may still believe they’re fine and the window to legally resign may already be gone.

That’s why “I’ll just step down later” usually isn’t a strong incapacity plan 📝

06/02/2026

Rental, vacation, commercial - the label doesn’t really matter.

If the property was not your primary residence, it likely won’t qualify for the same protection under Prop 19. That means when you pass away, that property can be reassessed whether it was a rental, a vacation home, a commercial building, or something else.

The key question is not: “What kind of property was it?”

The key question is: “Was it your primary residence?”

And if the county didn’t know it was your residence, your family may not be able to treat it that way later 🏡✨

PrestonEstatePlanning

05/29/2026

A hospital form may feel routine especially before surgery.

But if you sign a new advance healthcare directive, it can revoke the one you already had.

That matters because your original directive may name the people you trust, include specific instructions, and reflect the plan you carefully created.

So before signing a new medical directive, pause and ask: “Will this replace my existing one?”

Small form. Big consequences. 🏥✨

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