Home » Entries posted by Christine Ellingsen (Page 2)
Stories written by Christine Ellingsen

You may choose to leave your estate to your child at your death. However, concerns may arise in doing so. Is your child financially unstable or irresponsible? Is your child a minor? Is your child involved in a lawsuit or bankruptcy? Is your child going through a divorce? Is your child receiving government benefits due […]

Continue reading …

“Kindness, I’ve discovered, is everything in life”.  This quote has been very meaningful to me these past few weeks. Two weeks ago my boyfriend went to propose to me.  We were at the beach where we regularly spend time together and walk our dog.  He went out for a quick surf and I met him […]

Continue reading …

During the purchase of a new home you will be asked during escrow how you would like to take title to your property. In California, title may be held in sole ownership, or co-ownership.  If it is the sole ownership of an individual, a common way to hold title may be as a “single man/woman”, […]

Continue reading …

With summer just around the corner, this month I’m trying to better my health to be in the physical and mental shape desired to best enjoy our warm and active months in San Diego.  In May there are many awareness campaigns to help us all better our health, and the health of our loved ones. […]

Continue reading …

A will is a written document with instructions for disposing of assets after your death. Your will is enforced through probate court.  A revocable living trust is an entity you create that can hold your assets for disposition after your death.  In both documents you will write your instructions for the disposition of your estate, […]

Continue reading …

As an estate planner, I often get to see the benefits of charitable giving, and have been inspired to become involved with my local community and to start charitable giving efforts myself.  Being a coastal resident of San Diego and frequent visitor of our beaches, it was only natural for me to volunteer with the […]

Continue reading …

Creating your revocable living trust is the first step of your estate planning.  Once you sign your trust, however, there is additional work to be done.  A trust needs to be funded with the property you want the instructions in your trust to apply to.  Simply attaching a list of your assets as a schedule […]

Continue reading …

  What is Probate? A common goal of estate planning is to avoid probate.  But what exactly is probate?  Probate is a court-supervised process for gathering a decedent’s assets, paying the decedent’s debts, and distributing the remaining balance to the decedent’s beneficiaries. The process ultimately requires proving a will to be valid, obtaining a court […]

Continue reading …

While recently exploring through The Carmel Valley Life I realized it’s been a year since I have been involved with this wonderful community website.  It occurred to me how quickly this past year has gone by, and almost gave me a strange feeling because I can perfectly remember writing my first article about the holidays […]

Continue reading …

The estate plans of the rich and famous regularly make the news.  The battles surrounding Michael Jackson’s estate are no secret, and Whitney Houston’s estate plan (or lack thereof) has received criticism this past year.  The newsworthiness of these celebrities seems to indicate that only the wealthy need an estate plan.  That couldn’t be farther […]

Continue reading …

Tips to avoid loss of important documents. Imagine your family trying to search stacks of paper in your home to find your estate plan.  In those stacks, they find nothing but old bills.  They turn to your rolodex and find a business card for an attorney.  They call that office in hopes it was your […]

Continue reading …

I recently returned from a trip to the beautiful country of Costa Rica.  One of the things I found most breathtaking about the places I visited was the beauty and tranquility of the beaches; the beach at Manuel Antonio is pictured with this article.  I realize it may sound strange to be taken by beaches […]

Continue reading …
Page 2 of 3123