Services
Estate & Trust Planning
Your documents are drafted by a licensed estate attorney. The financial and tax strategy that sits around them is our work, and the two are far better built together.
Estate planning has an image problem. It sounds like something for people with a great deal more money, or for a much later stage of life. In practice, the families who most need a plan are often the ones still building. A couple in their thirties with young children and no named guardian. A business owner whose company would have to be sold in a hurry. A household whose largest assets are a house in California and a retirement account with a beneficiary form nobody has opened since a first job.
A plan answers three plain questions. Who decides for you if you cannot decide for yourself, who receives what you leave behind, and how much friction, delay and tax sits between the two. The documents that answer them, a will, a trust, powers of attorney and a health care directive, are drafted and executed by a licensed estate attorney. That part is not our role. Ours is everything around it: how assets are titled and funded, how beneficiary designations line up, what a gift now would mean compared with an inheritance later, and how it all connects to your financial plan while you are very much alive.
What this covers
- Why a plan matters long before there is a large estate, starting with guardians for young children
- Revocable living trusts and why California families often use one to avoid probate, plus why an unfunded trust is a common gap
- Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance, which pass outside your will and quietly override it
- Step-up in cost basis at death as a planning concept, and how it shapes what to sell, hold or give away
- Gifting during your life compared with transferring at death, including support for parents and help with tuition
- Heirs who live in Taiwan or elsewhere abroad, and the practical and reporting questions they raise
- Charitable giving as part of a legacy, including gifts of appreciated stock and donor-advised funds
- Keeping the plan current after a move, a marriage, a birth, a divorce or a liquidity event
How we work together
- 01
Take stock
We map what you own and how each piece is titled: accounts, property, business interests, insurance, retirement plans and anything held abroad. Then we look at where each asset would go today, which is rarely where you assumed.
- 02
Decide what you want
We talk through the outcomes that matter to you. Guardians for young children, support for parents, whether heirs receive everything at once or over time, and any charitable intent. Spouses and partners are welcome, in English or Mandarin.
- 03
Work with your attorney
We put the strategy in writing and take it to your estate attorney, or introduce you to one. The attorney drafts and executes every document. We stay in the conversation so the thinking behind your choices is not lost.
- 04
Fund it and keep it current
After signing, the plan still has to be implemented: assets retitled or funded into the trust, beneficiary forms updated, records where your family can find them. We revisit it whenever your life changes.
Why work with an independent advisor
Estate planning is one of the places commissions do the most damage. Products get sold as legacy solutions when a properly funded trust and updated beneficiary forms would accomplish more for far less. We sell no insurance and earn no commissions, so we have no reason to steer you toward a product. We also do not draft documents. That work belongs to your attorney, and independence lets us sit on your side of the table with them.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an estate plan if I do not have much yet?
Usually yes, and for reasons that have little to do with money. A plan names who would raise your children, who makes medical and financial decisions if you cannot, and who receives what without a court deciding for you. Those questions apply at any level of wealth. The tax side of planning becomes more relevant as assets grow. The human side is relevant now.
Do you draft my will or trust?
No. We are not attorneys and we do not draft or execute legal documents. Every document in your plan is drafted by a licensed estate attorney. What we bring is the financial and tax strategy around those documents, plus the follow-through that so often gets dropped: titling, funding and beneficiary forms. If you do not have an attorney, we can introduce one and stay in the conversation.
Why do so many California families use a living trust?
Because assets that pass under a will generally go through probate, a court-supervised process that in California tends to be slower, more public and more expensive than in many other states. A properly funded revocable living trust lets many assets pass outside it. It is not the right answer for everyone, and your attorney makes that call with you, but it is a common starting point for families who own a home here.
My will says one thing and my 401(k) beneficiary form says another. Which one wins?
Generally the beneficiary form. Retirement accounts and life insurance pass by designation, outside your will, so an outdated form can send a large asset to a former spouse or to an estate you never intended. It is one of the first things we check and one of the easiest to fix. Plans left behind at a first employer are where we find the most surprises.
Should I give money to my children now or leave it to them later?
It depends on the asset and on the family. Cash given during your life lets you see it used, whether that is a down payment or tuition. Highly appreciated assets are a different calculation, because property held until death may receive a step-up in cost basis, while a lifetime gift generally carries your original basis to the person receiving it. We model both paths alongside your tax strategy.
Some of my heirs live in Taiwan. Does that change the plan?
It adds steps. Distributions to family abroad raise practical questions about identification, banking and currency, and reporting duties can arise on either side of the Pacific. If you also hold accounts or property overseas, your plan and your cross-border filings need to agree with each other. Your attorney drafts for those circumstances, and we make sure the financial picture behind the documents is consistent.
Related services
- Holistic Financial PlanningOne integrated plan that connects your cash flow, equity, taxes, insurance and family goals, on both sides of the Pacific.
- Proactive Tax StrategyProactive, year-round tax planning so vesting, exercises and bonuses never surprise you in April.
- Cross-Border Tax & FilingsFBAR, FATCA and other international compliance, for families who still hold an account, a policy or a property back in Taiwan.
Ready to turn your uncertainty into certainties?
Start with a complimentary 15-minute strategy session. We will look at your portfolio, your tax picture and your goals, and tell you plainly what we would do next.