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Trusts and Estates

Experienced Trusts and Estates Lawyer Serves Fresno and Vicinity

Personalized service to address your estate planning concerns

Estate planning is the process of protecting your wealth now and providing for its smooth transfer after you die. Prudent and comprehensive estate planning has numerous advantages: it provides safeguards for your retirement and the inevitable infirmity of old age, reduces your exposure to taxation and liability, facilitates the quick transfer of assets to beneficiaries who might be depending on them, and allows you to place appropriate conditions on your bequests. Estate planning has long been a prerogative of the very wealthy. But with the assistance of Gates Law Group, A Professional Corporation, you can give your estate, regardless of size, the same protections at a very reasonable cost.

Various trusts fitted to your needs

A living trust is one that you set up during your lifetime. The trust holds your property for your enjoyment and then seamlessly passes the property to your heirs at your passing. Trusts have some advantages over wills, such as bypassing probate, so your heirs have immediate access to assets. A trust also allows you to put conditions on a bequest that you couldn’t put in a will.

Trusts are flexible instruments you can draft according to your legacy goals. Popular trusts include:

  • Asset protection/ Medicaid eligibility trusts
  • Charitable remainder trusts
  • Generation skipping trusts
  • Life insurance trusts
  • Qualified personal residence trusts
  • Spendthrift trusts
  • Special needs trusts
  • Tax bypass trusts

Trusts can be revocable, so you can dissolve them at any time, or irrevocable, so that you have limited control after you establish them. We explain your full range of options and help you select the protection that best suits your circumstances.

Skillful management of trust disputes

Interested parties can challenge the establishment of a trust if they have reason to believe it may be invalid. Grounds for invalidating a trust include:

  • The grantor lacked capacity at the time the trust was established.
  • The grantor was coerced or subject to undue influence when establishing the trust.
  • The grantor was a victim of fraud, and the trust documents do not reflect his intentions.
  • The trust documents are counterfeit.

Disputes can also arise during the operation of a trust. Beneficiaries may allege mismanagement or a breach of fiduciary duty if the trustee:

  • Unreasonably refuses to release assets
  • Mismanages investments of trust assets
  • Misappropriates trust assets
  • Neglects to produce a timely, accurate accounting

We represent beneficiaries and trustees in disputes over the operation of trusts in Fresno and throughout California.

Contact a dedicated trusts and estates lawyer in Fresno for a consultation

Gates Law Group, A Professional Corporation provides peace of mind through meticulous estate planning, assisting with trusts and estates. Please call 559-432-9944 or contact us online to schedule a consultation. Our firm’s main office is in Fresno, but we also assist clients from locations in Paso Robles and Visalia.

COVID-19 Notice

These are unquestionably difficult times. We understand the word "crisis". Usually, people do not come to us just to say hello. They come with their problems and we have to respond quickly. We understand they need help.

The problems do not stop because of the presence of the COVID-19. Assistance from our office will continue. We have the technology available to provide our clients with continued quality legal services in order to protect their interests. We can meet our clients virtually whether by telephone or video. We can meet our clients in person but with special arrangements and implemented safeguards.

In spite of the pandemic, life does not stop. You may continue to have legal needs. Some people will have greater needs than others. We stand ready to help whatever the circumstances.

Your continued faith in us never goes unnoticed.

Allowing us to help you is a privilege we take very seriously. Gates Law Group, A Professional Corporation Tough. Competent. Understanding.

Our Office
  • Fresno Office
    2445 Capitol St
    Ste 150A
    Fresno, California 93721
    Phone: 559-432-9944
    Fax: 866-740-6678
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