Having signed estate planning documents is only half the battle. A beautifully drafted trust cannot protect what it doesn’t actually control. In this recorded session, we unpack a common and costly pitfall: the asset alignment gap. When bank accounts, real estate, and beneficiary designations are not properly coordinated with your trust, your family faces unnecessary hurdles. Without alignment, trustees often find
On August 24 of this year, my 84-year-old dad sent an email to my mom, my brother and me with the subject line “Serious Request.” He also marked it High Priority, although, to be fair, about ¾ of his emails are marked High Priority. Here is what he wrote (verbatim). Dear Family, I would like to set a date with the
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal caught my eye because it’s an extreme version of what we see many trustees have to go through after the passing of a loved one. A pair of loving grandparents had diligently saved up a retirement account with $1.2M, intending for it to be split among their 36 grandchildren. The grandparents passed in 2019 and
A Wall Street Journal article from a few months back highlighted a reality we see all too often in estate planning and family wealth transitions: surviving spouses are frequently left feeling overwhelmed after the death of a partner because they were never fully involved in the family’s financial and legal organization. Wall Street Journal – Her Husband Died Unexpectedly. She Spent a Year Untangling
Our recent webinar, “Beyond the Binder: Leaving a More Conscious Legacy,” tackles this disconnect head-on. Why Traditional Estate Plans Drift Off Course Legal documents handle the how and the what, but lasting legacy planning requires answering the why. When plans remain static, they fail to weather three critical turning points: Asset Changes: Beneficiary designations, business sales, and new property acquisitions
IRAs and retirement accounts are often a major part of a family’s net worth. Two recent developments — both easy to overlook — are worth a quick check-in. 1. Inherited IRA rules are now being enforced Most non-spouse beneficiaries who inherited IRAs in 2020 or later must fully distribute the account within 10 years. If the original owner was already taking RMDs, annual
Many families believe their estate plan is “done” once documents are signed, but as estate attorney Curtis Kaiser explains, that traditional “sign and forget” model often leads to unintended consequences. In this educational session hosted by Halbert Hargrove Senior Wealth Advisor Nick Strain, Curtis shares why technically sound estate plans can still fail, the four critical moments where plans quietly go
Estate Planning Weekly Podcast with Bill Gross Curtis Kaiser joined Bill Gross, the LA Probate Expert, on the Estate Planning Weekly podcast to talk about Purposeful Estate Planning and how families and their advisors can plan for a more conscious legacy. The conversation looks beyond signed documents to what helps a plan work over time: keeping assets aligned with the plan,
Watch Video We are pleased to share an important update at Kaiser Law Group. Effective February 2026, Bijan Roboubi is joining Kaiser Law Group as a Partner. Many of you have already had the opportunity to work with Bijan since we began referring clients to him for smaller matters in 2023. He joined us as Of Counsel in 2025, and we
Watch Video One of the ways affluent families support each other financially is through intra-family loans. Whether it’s helping a child buy a home, funding a family business, or covering an unexpected expense, these loans can be a valuable tool for preserving and transferring wealth. However, failing to properly document and structure them can create unnecessary familial, legal, financial, and tax