Absolute Trust Talk

The population of those with developmental disabilities is growing larger, and many in this group will need support of some kind for the rest of their lives. In most cases, this support comes from their parents, and every one of those parents worries about what will happen when they're no longer able to provide that support.

A 20-year study by the National Council on Severe Autism that concluded in 2020 and followed 187 people with autism in South Carolina revealed that 99% of the test subjects were unable to live independently and 70% ended up living at home with relatives.

For Sweetwater Spectrum's founder, Mark Jackson, this quandary presented an especially personal challenge — a challenge that drove him to find a way to create a fulfilling and supportive living environment for those with developmental disabilities. His own son, now 32, had been diagnosed with autism years ago and was soon to age out of his private school. In January 2013, Mark and his partners opened Sweetwater Spectrum. This three-acre farm site supports developmentally disabled individuals in downtown Sonoma to accommodate 16 full-time residents — soon to expand to 20.

In this episode of Absolute Trust Talk, Kirsten Howe speaks with Mark and Sweetwater Spectrum's Executive Director, Olivia Vain. Olivia's proven experience with directly managing programs focused on enriching the lives of those with autism was a great complement to Mark's acquired logistical knowledge, and both offer interesting insight into creating a supportive community for those with developmental disabilities.

Together, we're going to discuss:

• How Sweetwater Spectrum addresses the individual needs of its residents.
• The ways in which Sweetwater Spectrum differs from other approaches to special needs housing and the benefits those differences provide for the families of its disabled residents.
• The specialized, real-world knowledge that both founder Mark Jackson and Executive Director Olivia Vain have acquired now affords them the ability to consult with other prospective specialized communities so that they don't encounter the same pitfalls that they did.

And much more.

Unfortunately, parents are unlikely to outlive their children, which leaves a gaping void when even one parent dies. Coupled with the demands of caring for someone with autism full-time, support can often prove to be a lot for some families to handle. We hope this episode will give you insights to support the solution options available.

Take the Next Step in Your Estate Planning Journey

If this episode resonated with you, we'd love to help you with your own estate planning needs in California. Schedule a complimentary discovery call with our team at Absolute Trust Counsel. During this no-obligation conversation, we'll:

1. Learn about your unique situation and goals
2. Answer questions about our services
3. Determine if we're the right fit to work together

Visit https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/scheduling/ or call 925-943-2740 to schedule your free discovery call today.

Follow and Review:

We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a couple second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Episode Credits: The Absolute Trust Talk podcast is brought to you with the help of Q2Mark, led by Chief Marketing Officer Susie Hays. Since 2016, Q2Mark has partnered with Absolute Trust Counsel on all marketing communications—from brand development and website design to this podcast series with over 192 episodes, social media management, video production, and more. If you're business owner looking for comprehensive marketing support, visit Q2Mark.com.

Actor and radio personality Casey Kasem occupied a singular place in American popular culture. As he counted down the hits for the week via his show, American Top 40, he was also doing something else that was decidedly more important — providing a sense of consistency that we could all rely on. World affairs might rattle us, and the financial markets volatility might worry us, but regardless of what else was transpiring in the world, we could always count on Casey to entertain us with his one-of-a-kind voice, and all would still seem more or less normal.

Unfortunately, the final chapter of Casey's own life was anything but ordinary. In 2013, one of Casey's daughters from his first marriage announced that he had been living with Parkinson's for six years. However, the diagnosis was later changed to Lewy Body Dementia. Not long after, Casey's three adult children assembled in front of his house to publicly complain that Jean Kasem — Casey's wife of 30 years — was intentionally keeping them from their now-incapacitated father.

Things only got more vitriolic and combative, with circumstances pitting Jean Kasem and her reckless and duplicitous behavior against Casey's three older children.

Join Kirsten Howe and associate attorney Madison Gunn as they examine the circumstances surrounding Casey Kasem's much-publicized and most unusual passing. We're not using the term "unusual" loosely here, as several aspects thoroughly separate this case from the estate planning disputes we often see. This conflict didn't stem from haphazard estate planning, nor was money the source of discord for this blended family. This altercation was centered almost entirely on how Casey's health care should be administered.

Kirsten and Madison will also look at some new California healthcare legislation — Sections 4711 and 4712 of the California Probate Code and analyze what, if any, difference it might have made had it been in effect while Casey's unfortunate saga was playing out.

In this episode, we're going to discuss:

• How even a well-thought-out, comprehensive health care directive and a court-appointed conservatorship can be rendered ineffectual when an involved party chooses to blatantly disregard them.
• Why doctors are inclined to seek authority to treat their incapacitated patients and not pursue the whereabouts of advance health care directives unless those documents are brought to their attention?
• Why proper communication is the most overlooked aspect of estate planning.
• Why Casey's decision to list his daughter Kerri, and not his wife Jean, as his agent on his health care directive might have reflected his concerns about how Jean might handle such authority.

And much more.

Don't miss this episode as we highlight some important legal wisdom that could have alleviated the conflict in this estate plan that you should be aware of for your own planning.

Take the Next Step in Your Estate Planning Journey

If this episode resonated with you, we'd love to help you with your own estate planning needs in California. Schedule a complimentary discovery call with our team at Absolute Trust Counsel. During this no-obligation conversation, we'll:

1. Learn about your unique situation and goals
2. Answer questions about our services
3. Determine if we're the right fit to work together

Visit https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/scheduling/ or call 925-943-2740 to schedule your free discovery call today.

Follow and Review:

We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a couple second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Episode Credits: The Absolute Trust Talk podcast is brought to you with the help of Q2Mark, led by Chief Marketing Officer Susie Hays. Since 2016, Q2Mark has partnered with Absolute Trust Counsel on all marketing communications—from brand development and website design to this podcast series with over 192 episodes, social media management, video production, and more. If you're business owner looking for comprehensive marketing support, visit Q2Mark.com.

Education can open many doors in life, but if you're the parent of a special needs child, it may seem like those doors are not only closed but padlocked, leaving you and you alone to chart the educational course for your special needs child.

Nearly a half-century ago, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, which became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), guarantees a free and appropriate public education for students with disabilities. Yet to this day, many parents and guardians of special needs children don't know how to access the services at their disposal because of this Act, nor do they even realize they're available.

In this episode of Absolute Trust Talk, our guest will clear up some confusion surrounding this critical and complex topic. Kirsten Howe will speak with education consultant Kristen Sabo of National Care Advisors, who advocates for special needs children and connects them with the services they need to fully access their education — services guaranteed to them under federal law. Kristen has spent years working with school administrators, board members, families, and special needs students themselves, so she knows better than anyone just how impactful an effective educational team can be on the life of a child with disabilities. Throughout this discussion, you'll hear Kristen emphasize the importance of a collaborative, individualized approach to getting her clients the best possible educational outcome, as every special needs child has their own unique academic challenges.

Join us as we discuss:

• The most common roadblocks that stand in the way of parents or guardians seeking the free and appropriate public education for their child that they're entitled to by law.
• What factors impact a child's Individualized Education Plan (IEP), how it is deemed appropriate for the student, and why it must change over time as the child matures?
• How Kristen's role differs markedly from that of an attorney, and why her approach — which emphasizes collaboration and a positive long-term relationship among parents or guardians, the school district, and the special needs student — can foster proactivity that will serve the best interests of the special needs student.
• The variety of special needs services that might be needed and how those services can improve or hinder the effectiveness of an IEP depends on the student and their needs.

And more!

All children, including children with disabilities, are legally entitled to a free education in this country. Our goal in this episode is to help you walk away with a better understanding of the support programs available and how to access them as needed if your child or a child you know is struggling with their educational path.

Take the Next Step in Your Estate Planning Journey

If this episode resonated with you, we'd love to help you with your own estate planning needs in California. Schedule a complimentary discovery call with our team at Absolute Trust Counsel. During this no-obligation conversation, we'll:

1. Learn about your unique situation and goals
2. Answer questions about our services
3. Determine if we're the right fit to work together

Visit https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/scheduling/ or call 925-943-2740 to schedule your free discovery call today.

Follow and Review:

We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a couple second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Episode Credits: The Absolute Trust Talk podcast is brought to you with the help of Q2Mark, led by Chief Marketing Officer Susie Hays. Since 2016, Q2Mark has partnered with Absolute Trust Counsel on all marketing communications—from brand development and website design to this podcast series with over 192 episodes, social media management, video production, and more. If you're business owner looking for comprehensive marketing support, visit Q2Mark.com.

In its 50+ years, the Special Olympics has served as a beacon of inclusion for aspiring athletes with disabilities. This now-worldwide institution started in 1968 in Chicago and was the brainchild of Eunice Kennedy Shriver — President John Kennedy's sister. At that time, developmentally disabled children were often institutionalized and intentionally separated from their families. Eunice had seen how societal pressure ultimately affected how her sister, Rosemary, was treated because of her intellectual disability.

She was inspired to look for constructive and enriching programming options for those with disabilities and found very few of them, so she set about to create one of her own, using participation in sports as its overarching theme.

The program that Eunice envisioned has grown dramatically over the years, and there are now more than 5 million Special Olympic athletes worldwide, representing 200 countries. In addition, each state in the U.S. has its own chapter of the Special Olympics, with California being represented by two due to its size and population.

But, while most of us associate the organization primarily with these athletic events, in reality, the Special Olympics does much more to improve the lives of people with disabilities — far beyond the realm of sports participation. In the newest episode of Absolute Trust Talk, Kirsten Howe spoke with Tyler Krochmal, Senior Manager of PR and Communications for Special Olympics Northern California (SONC).

Tyler is a pivotal part of the Special Olympics' media team — he's heading to Berlin for the International Special Olympics in June — so he's well versed on the organization's overall mission. He even participated as a volunteer coach for a number of years. And because Tyler oversees the Special Olympics' Athlete Leadership program, which allows athletes with disabilities to learn real-world skills that help them develop confidence and expand their opportunities in life, he's seen firsthand the impact that this organization can have — even when there's no sporting event involved.

In this episode, we're going to discuss:

• The impressive growth that the Special Olympics has seen since its inception and how that growth reflects today's more enlightened and inclusionary approach toward people with disabilities.
• How participation in the Special Olympics is a watershed moment for athletes with disabilities. Many athletes' interest is kindled by watching their chosen sport on television and signing up to participate. Unlike other aspects of their lives, disabled athletes don't have to worry about the judgment of others. There are no particular ability levels required — only the desire to participate.
• The various ways Special Olympics is committed to supporting people with intellectual disabilities far beyond the athletic field to enhance their physical and emotional health.
• How the Special Olympics provides enriching participation opportunities for coaches and other volunteers as well as the athletes themselves.

And more! Don't miss this very uplifting episode, as Kirsten and Tyler delve into some of the lesser-known ways that the Special Olympics enriches the lives of disabled adults.

Take the Next Step in Your Estate Planning Journey

If this episode resonated with you, we'd love to help you with your own estate planning needs in California. Schedule a complimentary discovery call with our team at Absolute Trust Counsel. During this no-obligation conversation, we'll:

1. Learn about your unique situation and goals
2. Answer questions about our services
3. Determine if we're the right fit to work together

Visit https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/scheduling/ or call 925-943-2740 to schedule your free discovery call today.

Follow and Review:

We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a couple second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Episode Credits: The Absolute Trust Talk podcast is brought to you with the help of Q2Mark, led by Chief Marketing Officer Susie Hays. Since 2016, Q2Mark has partnered with Absolute Trust Counsel on all marketing communications—from brand development and website design to this podcast series with over 192 episodes, social media management, video production, and more. If you're business owner looking for comprehensive marketing support, visit Q2Mark.com.

You'll find no shortage of captivating stories in the realm of estate planning. Tales of barely legible handwritten notes found in obscure places that detail a decedent's wish to bequeath their fortune to someone they had only just met. Or accounts of family members becoming estranged and a child or other loved one is left out of the estate, which is then capped off with the ever-popular "no contest" clause threat.

Life is complex, and so are family dynamics. Some family relationships fray while others grow stronger, and it's not surprising that these shifts are often memorialized in estate plans. But is it really possible to freeze a family member out of an estate and insert a "no contest" clause to safeguard from challenges? Does this provision truly hold up in the real world, or would a particular disinherited relative have any recourse if they find themselves in that position? And how does the clause change if an opportunist unduly influenced or preyed upon a decedent?

For the answers to these questions and more, tune into our latest episode of Absolute Trust Talk. Kirsten Howe will speak with trust and estate litigation attorney Jennifer Herlihy, founding partner of Walnut Creek-based Koller Herlihy, LLP. In addition to trust and estate litigation, Jennifer centers her practice on contested conservatorships, financial elder abuse actions, and related litigation, including civil claims and employment disputes with caregivers. Included in her impressive resume, Jennifer assisted more than 40 families in the highly publicized PG&E San Bruno explosion lawsuit and currently serves on the Tri-Valley Estate Planning Counsel and the Contra Costa County court-appointed attorney panel that represents conservatees in conservatorship proceedings.

In this episode, we're going to discuss:

• What a "no contest" clause really entails and how rock-solid it is under the threat of litigation.
• The primary conditions that make a "no contest" clause effective in shielding an estate from litigation.
• The most common ways litigants seek to circumvent the "no contest" provision.
• The critical steps that anyone planning to leave an asymmetrical inheritance should take to help minimize the chances of a contest in the future.
• How ever-evolving technology has changed the nature of forgeries for "go-to" tactics of elder abusers and other opportunists.

And more.

You shouldn't have to ask anyone's permission to structure your estate as you see fit — even if you plan to leave a family member a disproportionately smaller amount of it. Our goal with this episode is to help you better understand the circumstances surrounding "no contest" litigation and ensure that your wishes in your estate plan are carried out as you intend them to be.

Take the Next Step in Your Estate Planning Journey

If this episode resonated with you, we'd love to help you with your own estate planning needs in California. Schedule a complimentary discovery call with our team at Absolute Trust Counsel. During this no-obligation conversation, we'll:

1. Learn about your unique situation and goals
2. Answer questions about our services
3. Determine if we're the right fit to work together

Visit https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/scheduling/ or call 925-943-2740 to schedule your free discovery call today.

Follow and Review:

We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a couple second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Episode Credits: The Absolute Trust Talk podcast is brought to you with the help of Q2Mark, led by Chief Marketing Officer Susie Hays. Since 2016, Q2Mark has partnered with Absolute Trust Counsel on all marketing communications—from brand development and website design to this podcast series with over 192 episodes, social media management, video production, and more. If you're business owner looking for comprehensive marketing support, visit Q2Mark.com.

Being the parent of a special needs child is an exceedingly demanding role that comes with innumerable responsibilities geared toward helping that child navigate the world around them in the most enriching and gratifying way. The most important of these responsibilities is seeing that the child receives the best education possible, maximizing their social and behavioral skills.

This is a challenging task. The term "special needs" covers a wide range of disabilities, so the nature of that education will vary considerably from child to child. However, these children all have one thing in common — the right to a free and appropriate public education. And, because the term "appropriate" is so subjective, it's often a point of contention between school district officials who insist that they're doing the very best they can to fulfill their obligations and parents of special needs children who maintain that the accommodations being provided just aren't accomplishing what they need to.

Maybe you're the parent of a special needs child and have become frustrated in your efforts to secure the best possible education for that child — an education that's guaranteed by law. Or perhaps you know someone who's at such an impasse. If so, you'll want to tune into the latest episode of Absolute Trust Talk as Kirsten Howe speaks with California Special Education Rights Attorney Jennifer Chang - Jennifer's firm centers on fighting for the rights of children with special needs to get the education and services they need. In her practice, she litigates for those children and educates their parents on becoming better advocates for their needs.

In this episode, we're going to discuss:

• The broad spectrum of disabilities that special needs education must address.
• The role that Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) play in tailoring the educational experience for a special needs child and why parents must be incredibly diligent in ensuring that their child's IEP accurately covers ALL of the services.
• Why seeking the services of a special education attorney even before an impasse with the school district is in the best interests for all parties.
• How school districts blame COVID for staffing shortages and why that isn't an excuse when it comes to special needs support.

And more.

Special needs students are not always given the attention and support they need. We hope this episode helps you and those you know better understand the tools and processes needed to help get a special needs student the education they are entitled to.

Take the Next Step in Your Estate Planning Journey

If this episode resonated with you, we'd love to help you with your own estate planning needs in California. Schedule a complimentary discovery call with our team at Absolute Trust Counsel. During this no-obligation conversation, we'll:

1. Learn about your unique situation and goals
2. Answer questions about our services
3. Determine if we're the right fit to work together

Visit https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/scheduling/ or call 925-943-2740 to schedule your free discovery call today.

Follow and Review:

We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a couple second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Episode Credits: The Absolute Trust Talk podcast is brought to you with the help of Q2Mark, led by Chief Marketing Officer Susie Hays. Since 2016, Q2Mark has partnered with Absolute Trust Counsel on all marketing communications—from brand development and website design to this podcast series with over 192 episodes, social media management, video production, and more. If you're business owner looking for comprehensive marketing support, visit Q2Mark.com.

At first glance, non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, would seem to have little place in the world of fine art. After all, they've only been around for nine years, and during that time, they've developed a reputation as an abstract form of digital currency only fully understood by tech-savvy early adopters. The mere mention of NFTs raises a bit of skepticism in some circles, partly because not many of us comprehend the technology behind them. Ask someone to explain NFTs and blockchain technology in layman's terms, and you're likely to hear plenty of stammering and double talk, but our newest episode of Absolute Trust Talk will provide a welcome reprieve from that. Kirsten Howe's guest is Claudia Worthington Hess, who brings an unusual combination of 40 years of experience in the art market and a thorough knowledge of NFTs to the discussion. A member of the Appraisers Association of America (AAA), Claudia is a certified fine art appraiser who works with museums and other clients throughout the US and Canada on insurance, donation, and estate appraisals. After founding Hess Art Advisory in 2010, she eventually broadened her focus to accommodate the rapidly growing role that NFTs had come to play in the realm of fine art, prompting her to co-found New Media Art Advisory. Her new book, NFTs: A Handbook for Art Lovers, results from 17 months of research on this often-misunderstood topic. In this episode, she'll explain why NFTs and fine art — two worlds that seem to have nothing in common — are a natural fit for each other and why NFTs are here to stay, becoming more prevalent in the future. She'll also provide some interesting perspective on just what goes into determining the value of a given piece of art — much like the fundamentals of NFTs, this is a process that also leaves many of us mystified. We will also discuss:

• The various events that prompt someone to hire an art appraiser and the distinction between "retail/replacement value" and "fair market value" that not only guides the appraisal process, but also result in a different valuation for each of these.
• Why, as entertaining and compelling as it might be, the story behind a given piece of art is often misleading and shouldn't play a part in the appraisal process.
• The role that NFTs currently play in the world of fine art and why they're likely to take on an even more prevalent role in the future — some of the statistics that Claudia will provide are sure to surprise you!
• How NFTs can benefit artists in the future by providing solid proof of agreements between artists and galleries.
• Some actual appraisals Claudia has made not only run contrary to the images most of us conjure up when we think of high-price artwork but also resulted in welcome surprises for art enthusiasts who bought wisely and held on for the long run.

And more! We hope you will join us as we take a look at the world of art appraisal, the rise of NFTs and the connection that's been growing between these two seemingly disparate worlds.

Take the Next Step in Your Estate Planning Journey

If this episode resonated with you, we'd love to help you with your own estate planning needs in California. Schedule a complimentary discovery call with our team at Absolute Trust Counsel. During this no-obligation conversation, we'll:

1. Learn about your unique situation and goals
2. Answer questions about our services
3. Determine if we're the right fit to work together

Visit https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/scheduling/ or call 925-943-2740 to schedule your free discovery call today.

Follow and Review:

We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a couple second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Episode Credits: The Absolute Trust Talk podcast is brought to you with the help of Q2Mark, led by Chief Marketing Officer Susie Hays. Since 2016, Q2Mark has partnered with Absolute Trust Counsel on all marketing communications—from brand development and website design to this podcast series with over 192 episodes, social media management, video production, and more. If you're business owner looking for comprehensive marketing support, visit Q2Mark.com.

It's a scenario you'd never want to imagine — let alone experience — but it happens more often than you'd think. After doing hours and hours of research, and asking all the right questions to a list of skilled nursing facility candidates for a loved one who needs long-term care, you decided on what you believe was the best option. Later on, you come to find out that your loved one failed to receive the care they were promised and showed signs of abuse.

If you're like many people, you may have thought that facilities like the one you chose were guided by a sense of duty to the vulnerable and dependent residents they serve. But unfortunately, skilled nursing facilities are almost invariably for-profit businesses that put a very high premium on their bottom line, sometimes to the detriment of their residents.

To find out what you can do to ensure that your loved one gets the best possible care in their nursing facility, we're pleased to welcome Shahrad Milanfar, of Milanfar Law in Walnut Creek, who helps victims of nursing home abuse and neglect. Shahrad has substantial court-tested experience with nursing home abuse cases and takes pride in being a persistent voice for clients during litigation. His selection to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 for 2022-23 is a testimonial to his skill and knowledge in court — both of which he continues to teach as an adjunct professor at the Golden Gate University School of Law.

In this episode, we're going to discuss:

• The proactive steps that family members can take to ensure that the skilled nursing facility they've chosen is held accountable for their loved one's proper care.
• The defining characteristics that nursing home neglect cases usually have.
• Why Covid made proper skilled nursing care more challenging, and how its aftermath has made accountability easier.
• Why claims that a skilled nursing facility resident is exhibiting "unreasonable" behavior doesn't excuse the facility from providing sub-par care, and the specific questions you should ask if you suspect this is the case.
• Several resources you can turn to if you suspect a loved one is showing signs of neglect or abuse.

And more!

Deciding to entrust the care of a loved one to a skilled nursing facility is a tough decision. If you have suspicions that the care they're receiving isn't living up to the standards that were promised — or worse, if that care amounts to outright neglect or abuse — it can be devastating! With this episode, we hope you'll gain a better understanding of your options and how to better protect a loved one from abuse or neglect in long-term care.

Take the Next Step in Your Estate Planning Journey

If this episode resonated with you, we'd love to help you with your own estate planning needs in California. Schedule a complimentary discovery call with our team at Absolute Trust Counsel. During this no-obligation conversation, we'll:

1. Learn about your unique situation and goals
2. Answer questions about our services
3. Determine if we're the right fit to work together

Visit https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/scheduling/ or call 925-943-2740 to schedule your free discovery call today.

Follow and Review:

We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a couple second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Episode Credits: The Absolute Trust Talk podcast is brought to you with the help of Q2Mark, led by Chief Marketing Officer Susie Hays. Since 2016, Q2Mark has partnered with Absolute Trust Counsel on all marketing communications—from brand development and website design to this podcast series with over 192 episodes, social media management, video production, and more. If you're business owner looking for comprehensive marketing support, visit Q2Mark.com.

Whether you've experienced it yourself or have seen it happen to someone close to you, you're likely to agree that there aren't many life events that are more emotionally taxing than divorce. Two lives that have been bound together — by law and through shared experiences — are severed, and with that comes the necessities required to complete that break. The emotional component, however, often makes every step in the process as contentious as it can be, with both parties not only going to the mat to look after their own best interests but sometimes — let's face it — also inflicting emotional and financial harm on each other.

In a "50/50" state like California, where assets are required by law to be divided equally among spouses, it would seem like a cut-and-dry job, and in some respects, it is. But not all community assets are that easy to divide. The most obvious example of this would be the family home. You're not likely to find many divorced couples willing to live under the same roof with spatial boundaries cutting the residence in half, and, of course, literally dividing a house in half would render both halves unlivable.

In reality, arriving at an equitable division of assets after a divorce is a very complex undertaking. There are plenty of considerations to be made — many of which wouldn't even be on the average person's radar. But, if you're contemplating divorce or want to provide some insight to someone close to you who is, you'll definitely want to tune into the latest episode of Absolute Trust Talk, as Kirsten welcomes Glenn Bittner, who is not only a financial advisor with Pacific Wealth Planning but also a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. Glenn offers a unique blend of practical knowledge and experience that allows him to view the emotionally fraught issue of divorce from the rational, financial side. In addition to his CDFA® certification, Glenn obtained his FINRA Series 6, 63, 65, and 7 licenses. As a former mathematics major, he has a penchant for calculating the present and future valuations of a wide array of financial assets. He was born for this role!

In this episode, we're going to discuss:

• The importance for Glenn and any CDFA® is to ask the right questions and learn essential information about both parties in a divorce proceeding.
• What a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is, its role in a divorce proceeding, and why it's sometimes best to avoid a QDRO altogether?
• Why dividing a pension earned by one spouse between both parties can be especially challenging, if not impossible.
• The various emotional aspects of the family home often make it a particularly contentious part of the divorce process.
• Why allowing emotion to dominate divorce proceedings may not only lead to a less than equitable settlement but also bring about unforeseen financial consequences for one or both parties down the road.

And more!

Unfortunately, as we all know, divorce is never easy, and many moving parts require us to set aside emotion so that rational thinking can take center stage – easier said than done, right?! We aim to help you walk away from this episode with a better idea of what needs to be considered when equitably dividing financial assets.

Take the Next Step in Your Estate Planning Journey

If this episode resonated with you, we'd love to help you with your own estate planning needs in California. Schedule a complimentary discovery call with our team at Absolute Trust Counsel. During this no-obligation conversation, we'll:

1. Learn about your unique situation and goals
2. Answer questions about our services
3. Determine if we're the right fit to work together

Visit https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/scheduling/ or call 925-943-2740 to schedule your free discovery call today.

Follow and Review:

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Episode Credits: The Absolute Trust Talk podcast is brought to you with the help of Q2Mark, led by Chief Marketing Officer Susie Hays. Since 2016, Q2Mark has partnered with Absolute Trust Counsel on all marketing communications—from brand development and website design to this podcast series with over 192 episodes, social media management, video production, and more. If you're business owner looking for comprehensive marketing support, visit Q2Mark.com.

Ever since the mid-'50s, when "That's Alright Mama" hit the airwaves and marked his rise to stardom, Elvis Presley has been lauded as one of the most galvanizing figures in the history of popular music. He became a household name as quickly as anyone ever had in his pre-social media time and would go on to have an incredible 149 songs make the Billboard Top 100 Pop Chart. He would also become the ultimate Las Vegas fixture — the prototype creator of what is now known today as the "Las Vegas Residency."

Sold-out concerts, hit songs, packed theatres. Elvis generated a LOT of money. And, if you'd conclude that Elvis's own share of this revenue led to a lavish lifestyle that very few other entertainers matched before or since, you would, of course, be right. But we're also familiar with the cautionary tale that came with Elvis's fame and fortune. When he died in 1977, he left behind an estate valued at around $5 million — a surprisingly small sum, considering his accomplishments.

With Lisa Marie Presley's recent unfortunate and untimely death, the Presley estate is back in the news. A closer examination of this estate will reveal that fueled by a series of interesting planning decisions over the years since Elvis's death — some very questionable, but a few surprisingly wise — it has gone through a series of dramatic twists and turns that, in a way seem befitting of such a storied and larger than life public figure.

But this financial saga holds far more than the unfortunate tabloid "car crash" appeal that seemed to follow the Presley name after his passing. There are also plenty of teachable moments included in this story! Join us for the latest episode of Absolute Trust Talk as Kirsten Howe and associate attorney, Madison Gunn, examine the Presley approach to estate planning over the years and detail the various decisions that have led to its current state.

In this episode, we're going to discuss:

• Elvis's seemingly unusual method for organizing his estate
• The broad language contained in his testamentary trust that showed Elvis's concern for his family
• The tremendous amount of latitude that Vernon Presley — Elvis's father and his original trustee — was given. This latitude would lead to a dramatic change upon Vernon's own death
• Just how dramatically the new trustee's wise moves reversed the Presley estate's seemingly bleak future.
• Why, considering her state in life, coming into control of a vast fortune created a terrible situation for Lisa Marie
• How, in the days after Lisa Marie's death, poor planning and questionable motives combined to create a plethora of litigation

And more.

Don't miss this latest episode of Absolute Trust Talk as Kirsten and Madison chronicle the history of this estate, and share some legal wisdom that could have significantly alleviated the conflicts and fluctuations it has seen over the years. We hope you'll walk away with insights on what you should or shouldn't do in your own estate planning.

Take the Next Step in Your Estate Planning Journey

If this episode resonated with you, we'd love to help you with your own estate planning needs in California. Schedule a complimentary discovery call with our team at Absolute Trust Counsel. During this no-obligation conversation, we'll:

1. Learn about your unique situation and goals
2. Answer questions about our services
3. Determine if we're the right fit to work together

Visit https://absolutetrustcounsel.com/scheduling/ or call 925-943-2740 to schedule your free discovery call today.

Follow and Review:

We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select "Ratings and Reviews" and "Write a Review" then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a couple second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.

Episode Credits: The Absolute Trust Talk podcast is brought to you with the help of Q2Mark, led by Chief Marketing Officer Susie Hays. Since 2016, Q2Mark has partnered with Absolute Trust Counsel on all marketing communications—from brand development and website design to this podcast series with over 192 episodes, social media management, video production, and more. If you're business owner looking for comprehensive marketing support, visit Q2Mark.com.