Clik here to view.
Social Media Blackmail | Dealing with Old-Fashioned Shakedowns
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels' former attorney, exemplifies the dangers stemming from express or explicit threats of public disclosure and publicity against an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Liz Hurley's Rich Son | Damian Hurley's Inheritance
Image Credit: Brian Minkoff - London Pixels Estate taxes can easily eat up large percentages of a person's assets, which is why the strategy of creating an irrevocable trust to transfer wealth from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What is an Estate? | It Pays for You to Know
"What is an Estate?" This question, while appearing simple on its face, generates a few other questions. The word is used in so many contexts - estate planning, estate trust, testate estate, intestate...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Trust & Estate Litigation | From A to Z
It's been over 40 years since I first represented clients in a will contest. A lot has changed over the years in estate litigation on behalf of beneficiaries. We now have elder financial abuse laws...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Trustee's Professional Fees | How Much are They Paid?
California law provides that both individual and corporate trustees are entitled to compensation for their services as trustee. Corporate trustees, sometimes referenced as professional trustees, are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Disappointed Trust Beneficiaries | A Better Way
We've shared over 500 blog posts and YouTube videos with people interested in trust, estate, probate and elder financial abuse issues. Many examples referenced in our blogs are drawn from real life...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anthony Bourdain's Estate | Pitfalls in the Will
Image Credit: Peabody Awards Anthony Bourdain was a celebrity chef who lived on the edge. When he took his own life on June 8, 2018, at the age of 61, he was known worldwide as the original rock star...
View ArticleClik here to view.
California Estate and Trust Houses Draw Real Estate Agents' Focus
Atherton, our nation's most expensive ZIP code, is in the heart of the California Bay Area. Atherton's median price for a single-family home in the first half of 2019 was $8.1 million. Real estate...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Unfair Fiduciary Distributions | Looking Out for Number One
I'm Mike Hackard of Hackard Law. I feel fortunate to represent abused beneficiaries seeking justice against trustees who appear to put their own financial interest over the beneficiaries they are duty...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Unitrust Solution | Annual Beneficiary Income from 3% to 5%
We've all heard or said something like: "How would you like it if someone did the same thing to you?" It's a heartfelt question. It calls to mind our willingness to consider another viewpoint - to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Recommendations from a Litigator to California Attorney Estate Planners
At Hackard Law, we do California estate, trust and elder financial abuse litigation. Our practice experience includes circumstances where it seems that estate planning lawyers haven't really done their...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Interview with Pamela Wilson | The Caring Generation
Recently Michael Hackard joined Pamela D. Wilson, a caregiving expert and advocate for protecting the well-being of seniors. Pamela is the host of The Caring Generation, and we were honored to speak...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Life Insurance Beneficiary Challenges | Fraud & Undue Influence
Life insurance beneficiary challenges occur with some regularity in California's Superior Courts. Timeliness is critical in contesting a life insurance beneficiary designation or life insurance...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Trust Accountings | Discovery of Fraud and Embezzlement
Trust accountings can be routine or the genesis for shocking discoveries of embezzlement and trustee fraud. Embezzlement is the fraudulent appropriation of property belonging to someone else by a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Undue Influence | The Danger of Deathbed Transfers
There's a reason that deathbed transfers of estate or trust assets are more likely to be contested. And the story you're about to hear just provides further confirmation. Eleanor Potter was 89 when she...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Non-English Speakers | Targets of Estate & Trust Scams
A recent Brookings Institution study estimated that one out of every ten people in the United States is not fluent in the English language. Non-English speakers are vulnerable and immigrants are a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
People with Dementia | Targets for Elder Financial Abuse
5.8 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's Disease. About 670,000 of these Americans live in California. Dealing with money in 2019 is far different than it was in 1999. Financial transactions...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Income Beneficiary Trust & Estate Challenges | California
It's not easy to be a trustee - for a lot of reasons. Some particularly challenging aspects of the job involve trust beneficiary distribution decisions - decisions inherent to trust administration....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Life Insurance Lawyer | Beneficiary Policy Challenges
Life insurance beneficiary contests can be shocking. A loved one dies with a life insurance policy intact. Maybe you knew about the policy - maybe you didn't. But one thing that you didn't know about...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Disinherited House Beneficiaries | Bay Area Trust Litigation
California's median home value in September 2019 is $548,000. Bay Area median home values are even higher. As an example: Fremont - $1,176,000; Newark - $872,000; Santa Clara - $1,396,000; San Mateo -...
View Article