No matter what your family looks like, we are here to design the plan that best fits your needs.

How can you be sure your assets will be distributed in the manner you select, to your family, to charity, to whom ever you personally choose?

Estate Planning is the process of setting forth your wishes for the disposition of your assets on your death, as well as the administration of those assets during your lifetime. By creating an individual Estate Plan, your wishes can usually be carried out without the need to go through a lengthy and expensive Probate Court procedure. A properly drafted and executed Estate Plan can save you and your heirs time and money when the time comes for the disposition of your hard earned assets.

Components of an Estate Plan

Through the use of Revocable Living Trusts your personal objectives can be expressed, expensive probate court administration can usually be avoided and in many situations, federal estate taxes may be eliminated or substantially reduced.

In addition to the Revocable Living Trust, an estate plan usually also includes a Will or Pour-Over Will which not only affirms your wishes to administer your estate under the terms of your Revocable Living Trust, it most importantly, sets forth your wishes for the guardianship of your minor children, if that should become necessary.  In the event of your incapacity, rather than death, the estate plan also includes both a Durable Power of Attorney for the administration of your assets as well as an Advance Health Care Directive which sets forth your wishes for your health care if you can no longer make decisions for yourself.

A significant portion of the practice is devoted to advising same-sex couples and the LGBT community regarding estate planning, family formation, adoption and taxation matters.

Ms. Hartmann is a frequent lecturer in the areas of taxation as well as the evolving laws affecting the LGBT community and taxation for same-sex couples, and has presented programs at the American Bar Association Tax Conference, the California State Bar Annual Meeting, State Bar Taxation Conference, as well as the Estate and Gift Tax Conference. In addition, she has made presentations to various sections of the Los Angeles County, Beverly Hills, San Fernando Valley, and Orange County Bar Associations, along with programs to Certified Public Accountants, estate planning councils and a wide variety of LGBT organizations, including Lambda Legal, Equality California, Love Honor Cherish, The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, Lavender Law, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.