Sacramento Trust & Estate Litigation Attorney

Even the most carefully built fortune can vanish within a few generations. Studies show that nearly 70% of families lose...

Estate planning is not only a matter of law and finance; it is also a deeply human process. Beneath the...

Estate and trust planning used to rely on paperwork and traditional family structures. Now it faces major changes. Technology is...

Family businesses are the backbone of California’s economy, and often the cornerstone of family identity. Yet studies show that fewer...

  For many families, wealth represents more than financial security; it reflects values, purpose, and the desire to make a...

Modern estate planning no longer focuses solely on real estate, investments, and business interests. The digital era has expanded what...

Effective estate planning goes beyond distributing wealth; it’s about protecting it across generations. For California families, tax strategies in multi-generational...

Contesting a trust in California could be a complex matter that requires you, as the petitioner, to meet specific legal...

If you are on the lookout for someone to help you manage your assets, you may have been referred to...

As a trustee, your actions are often closely examined—especially when beneficiaries disagree, question your decisions, or suspect mismanagement. Taking proactive...

Wealth does more than create opportunity; it also tests values, relationships, and judgment. In California, families with significant assets face...

Even the most carefully structured trusts can face conflict. Over the decades, family relationships change, financial conditions shift, and differences...

In California, multi-generational trusts are designed to preserve family wealth, ensure financial stability, and promote fairness across decades. However, trust...

Families who create long-term trusts often do so with the best intentions: to protect wealth, reduce taxes, and maintain family...

Families throughout California are placing greater emphasis on multi generational trust planning to preserve wealth, protect assets, and prevent family...

A family on the edge In a quiet Sacramento neighborhood, the Collins family stood at a crossroads. Their father had...

Sacramento Homes: More Than Brick and Mortar Walk through Curtis Park’s tree-lined streets or past the stately homes of East...

A New Frontier in Estate Law Everything is changing—how we communicate, bank, shop, and even plan our futures. But one...

As a Sacramento family lawyer, I have witnessed that the true legacy of a family is not in dollars, but...

The Subtle Strength of Revamping Your Will: How Small Adjustments Avoid Big Conflicts The Will That Forgot Families often believe...

The Conversation That Changes Everything Most people think estate planning is about documents, stacks of paper, complicated signatures, and lawyerly...

A New Type of Legacy Ten years ago, families in Sacramento considered inheritance in traditional terms: houses, bank accounts, pension...

A Discovery in the Attic On a cool spring morning, sunlight filtered into Caroline’s late uncle’s attic. She stepped inside...

A Vanishing Inheritance in Sacramento A Family’s Quiet Shock Linda gripped the cool banister of her father's East Sacramento house,...

A Sacramento Story of Words That Went Too Far Not every inheritance dispute starts with greed. Sometimes, it starts with...

A Sacramento Tale Buried in the Ledgers When a loved one is lost, mourning enters the room before comprehension. Families...

The Trusted Role That Can Go Terribly Wrong Every estate begins with trust—trust that the person chosen to carry out...

When Silence Replaces Stewardship Back in spring 2021, a Sacramento woman named Teresa called our office. She'd been waiting a...

The Call That Changes Everything It starts with one phone call for many Sacramento families. A father dies. A mother's...

Why Timing Matters in Probate In probate, time is not a silent observer; it is the arbiter. Many trust that...

A Sacramento Family's Hidden Struggle Family caregiving is usually an act of love, but sometimes it slowly turns into financial...

Margaret’s Story Margaret’s kitchen always smelled of cinnamon and coffee, especially on Sundays. She’d often sing while rolling dough, sunlight...

A Place of Memories, Now a Source of Division Every Sacramento neighborhood has its quiet sentinels – homes that hold...

A Question That Hangs in the Air After Every Verdict Every courtroom story leaves two legacies. One gets written in...

A Sacramento Family Divided Years ago, a blended Sacramento family came to me, burdened by a familiar and painful reality:...

When families discover that an elderly loved one has been financially exploited—or that their rightful inheritance has disappeared—finding trustworthy information...

Family disputes over money, property, and inheritance are as old as families themselves. In California, estate and trust litigation is...

Sacramento is famous as America’s farm-to-fork capital, but there are still families in need among us. This Thanksgiving and Christmas,...

When people think about estate planning, they usually picture wills, trusts, or maybe even probate court. What often goes unnoticed...

Trustees in California need to take certain steps to effectively distribute trust assets to beneficiaries. Maintaining compliance with state laws...

Facing the prospect of estate or trust litigation can be overwhelming even under the best of circumstances. Disputes involving trusts...

Estate planning is about more than drafting documents and signing forms. It is about making sure your loved ones are...

Estate planning is about more than writing a will or creating a trust. It is about making sure that your...

Estate planning is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your family, your legacy, and your...

Estate planning is more than preparing documents for the court. It is about protecting your loved ones, preserving your wealth,...

Life is unpredictable. Families work hard to save, invest, and protect wealth, yet illness, accidents, and sudden losses can disrupt...

Estate planning protects families, honors legacies, and ensures assets pass smoothly to the next generation. Many people believe drafting a...

Estate planning is about more than drafting a will or creating a trust. It is about making sure your assets...

Estate planning is about more than writing a will or creating a trust. It is about making sure the right...

I’m Mike Hackard with Hackard Law.  I’m sharing passages from my new book Inheritance Heists – and I hope that...