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 agents and brokers who handle these sales have plenty of reason to celebrate when an escrow closes. While Atherton house values are setting records the rest of the Bay Area housing market also have significant values. Median home prices for June, 2019 were $1,549,000 (San Mateo), $1,250,000 (Santa Clara), $926,000 (Alameda), and $665,000 (Contra Costa). When it comes to estate and trust transfers these high house values have significant repercussions.
How Bay Area Trust Beneficiary House Disputes are Million-Dollar Mashups
Trust beneficiary disputes occur for a host of reasons. And, whatever the reason, it seems that Bay Area trust beneficiary disputes often involve who gets the family home.
Sometimes You've Got to Fight | Disinherited Trust Beneficiary Battles
Imagine: Your mother is an 86-year-old widow. Your father passed away ten years ago. You have three siblings - two brothers and a sister. You're all now in your 50s.
A House Divided | Bay Area Beneficiary Trust Disputes
"A house divided against itself cannot stand." We read this in Scripture - the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. We see this in history. It's Abraham Lincoln's warning made on the eve of the Civil War. It's an everyday life truth.
The Best Day | CA Estate & Trust Mediation
I'm Mike Hackard. I've written two books about estate & trust litigation. Both books include particular observations as to mediation. When we think of "the best day," few of us would think of litigation. I probably wouldn't make the connection but for a statement that many mediators give at the beginning of an estate & trust mediation day.
Bay Area Estate & Trust Litigation Battles | Disinherited House Beneficiaries
The San Francisco Bay Area is overflowing with equity-rich homeowners. About half of Bay Area residents live in homes they own, and these homes have been escalators to wealth. Bay area home price increases have been astounding, and San Francisco in particular, may be in the early stages of some dramatic increases.
What You Focus on Grows | Bay Area Trust & Estate House Disputes
"What you focus on grows" is a garden metaphor - a simple truth with widespread application. Focus is a gift of presence coupled with deliberate practice. It is the use of our imagination paired with or own time commitments to practice essential tasks necessary for elevating our game. Growth spawned by focus is as applicable in our personal lives as it is in sports, music, business and the professions.
Settling Bay Area Estate & Trust House Disputes | Contingency Fees
Life Insurance Beneficiary Disputes | CA Litigation
Representing clients in California life insurance beneficiary disputes a part of what we do at Hackard Law in addition to our estate, trust and elder financial abuse litigation practice.
California Trust Mediation | What Was Your Life About?
Whenever mediation occurs it is usually a day-long event - an event that often includes a "hard day's night." The process involves a neutral mediator that helps effectuate negotiation between the attorneys for estates, trusts, heirs, and beneficiaries. Clients are deeply involved in the process and are understandably swept with emotion as offers and counter-offers come in.
