Yahnian Estate Planning

The Estate Planning Attorney/CPA/CFP® Advantage℠

ESTATE PLANNING & ADMINISTRATION SERVICES

Asset Protection Planning

Planning, Design, Organizational and Implementation Strategies to Protect Your Assets from Creditors; Failure to Plan can cause the wealth you earned to be forfeited and transferred to plaintiff’s attorneys and their opportunist clients or other unrelated third persons
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Business Succession Planning

Planning Strategies for Business Continuation and Succession to the Next Generation
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Charitable Planning

Properly Planned and Structured Charitable Giving can save you substantial taxes with no or minimal reduction in your wealth
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Estate, Gift, Income, and Property Taxation & Planning; Tax Returns

Tax Reduction Strategies & Planning; Estate, Gift, GSTT, Income & California Property Tax Planning & Return Preparation, Consulting and Review
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Insurance, Investment & Retirement Plan Strategies

Wise Men Plan early and often for their Insurance, Investment and Retirement Assets. Failure to plan can significantly diminish lifetime and post death access to these types of assets due to taxes and other predators.
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Living Trusts, Wills & Ancillary Strategies

Living Trusts, Wills, Powers of Attorney and related Services and Documents Design, Preparation & Implementation
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Medi-Cal & Special Needs Planning

Planning for incapacity can save you and your family substantial sums. Planning can mean the difference between leaving family members taken care of or impoverished
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Post Death Planning

Believe it or not, there are substantial planning and tax savings opportunities, issues and decisions that need to be made following death. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to these types of issues and opportunities
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Probate & Trust Administration

Post Death Administration of Trusts & Estates to Transfer Wealth to Beneficiaries and Heirs with reasonable cost and minimal delay
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Trust Modification, Termination & Decanting

Just because a Trust is Irrevocable does not mean it cannot be changed. But, you need professional help to find out how. The possibilities are endless
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D. STEVEN YAHNIAN, ESQ
Attorney/CPA/CFP^®

JD (Loyola of Los Angeles Law School)
LLM (Tax-NYU)
CERTIFICATE (Tax-UCLA)
BS Accounting (USC)
Certified Specialist by California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization:
– Estate Planning, Trusts and Probate Law
–Taxation

ESTATE PLANNING & ADMINISTRATION SERVICES

“Unless (prepared for), there is uncertainty as to where (your) assets and liabilities will end up when (you) die. The best way to eliminate some of that uncertainty is by having a properly prepared estate plan that incorporates planning for the accumulation, protection, and disposition of wealth.” –Dalton, Estate Planning

“There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ estate plan or estate administration process. Many plans and planning tools work well for a majority of clients. Some work well for many clients. Others work well for only a few. Only an experienced attorney knows the difference and how to design, prepare, implement and operate a customized estate plan or how to conduct an estate administration appropriate for a given client.” STEVE YAHNIAN, Attorney/CPA/CFP, Yahnian Law Corporation

Estate Planning is a 4-step process:

First, is:
- interview;
- ascertain client objectives;
- gather information;
- review client answers to estate planning questionnaires;
- review documents;
- ascertain and distill relevant facts;
- organize facts,
- factual and legal analysis,
- Estate Planner written opinion, blueprint and recommendations.
Second, is plan preparation.
Third, is plan implementation; and
Last, is plan monitoring following implementation.

Who Should have an Estate Plan?

We recommend that everyone have an estate plan. Why is this?

To protect your home and other assets
To protect and ensure the succession of your business
To protect your spouse
To protect your children
To protect other persons you care about
To guarantee the right person will have guardianship if your child or children are orphaned
To plan for incapacity
To plan for death
To minimize estate taxes and other transfer taxes
To minimize income taxes
To avoid the costs and delay of probate
To control how and to who will receive inheritance
To avoid having the state inherit your assets
To provide protection of your assets against the IRS
To provide protection of your assets from creditors

We provide a wide-range of customized estate plans. Each of the plans we prepare is tailored to client objectives and circumstances. One objective is to minimize tax consequences. Another includes the desire to avoid the cost and delay of probate. Finally, the design is to insure your assets go to who you want them to go to as well as secure your legacy. During our initial consultation, we listen carefully to your objectives, concerns, and unique circumstances. We will advise you on various types of estate planning documents, such as Trusts, Wills, Powers of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directives, Property Agreements and Family Companies.

The transfer of wealth from generation to generation must be carefully planned. Estate Planning law has many intricacies. Having an experienced trust and estate attorney help review your personal and business financial background is integral to creating an estate plan that supports your vision for the future. Estate planning is a necessity at all stages in life.

Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging, during a person’s life, for the management and disposal of that person’s estate during the person’s life and at and after death, while minimizing gift, estate, generation skipping transfer, and income tax. Estate planning includes planning for incapacity as well as a process of reducing or eliminating uncertainties over the administration of a probate and maximizing the value of the estate by reducing taxes and other expenses. The ultimate goal of estate planning can be determined by the specific goals of the client, and may be as simple or complex as the client’s needs dictate. Guardians are often designated for minor children and beneficiaries in incapacity. –Wikipedia

Estate Planning also involves planning for Protecting Assets, Postmortem Asset Structures and Management as well as Implementing the Estate Plan. –Steve Yahnian

Another commentator states: “Estate planning is broadly defined as the process of accumulation, management, conservation, and transfer of wealth considering legal, tax, and personal objectives. Estate planning is planning in anticipation of a person’s inevitable death. The goals of estate planning are the effective and efficient transfer of assets. An Effective Transfer occurs when a person’s assets are transferred to the person or institution intended by the transferor. An Efficient Transfer occurs when transfer costs are minimized consistent with the greatest assurance of effectiveness. Some estate planning experts define estate planning more narrowly to include only conservation and transfer, ignoring the accumulation factor in the broader definition above.” Dalton, Estate Planning

When a person dies, all of his or her possessions – real estate, money, stocks, personal belongings, etc. – become a part of his or her estate. Estate administration refers to the process of collecting and managing the estate, paying any debts and taxes, and distributing the remaining property to the beneficiaries and/or heirs of the estate. The beneficiaries of an estate are determined by will, and if there isn’t a will, by the intestacy (which means dying without a will) laws of each state. The beneficiaries of a trust are determined by the Trust.

Whenever a person dies, his or her estate needs to be collected and managed. Estate administration involves gathering the assets of the estate, paying the decedent’s debts, and distributing the remaining assets. When someone passes away, his or her estate often goes through a court-managed process called probate or estate administration where the assets of the deceased are managed and distributed. If the decedent owned his or her assets through a well drafted and properly funded living trust, it may be that no court-managed administration is necessary. Instead, similar to a will probate, the living trust will be administered. The length of time needed to complete the probate of an estate or living trust administration depends on the size and complexity of the estate and the local rules and schedule of the probate court, tax laws and other applicable laws.

Steve Yahnian has handled a substantial number of estate matters over the years. He has specialized in preserving and increasing client wealth, counseling on business succession, protecting client assets and minimizing their taxes.

Along with his legal credentials, Mr. Yahnian also holds a Master's of Law in Taxation, as well as in Estate Planning, Trusts and Probate Law.

He has extensive experience helping his clients devise strategies to mitigate their estate's tax liabilities in an effort to preserve more of their wealth for future generations.

He is also well-versed in preparing important tax planning documents such as family limited partnerships, family LLCs, family Corporations, Management Corporations, Irrevocable life insurance trusts, Qualified personal residence trusts, Charitable remainder and Charitable lead trusts, Grantor trusts and Special needs trusts.

Mr. Yahnian also provides Asset Protection planning to his clients.

Aside from estate planning, Mr. Yahnian also provides general counsel and support to business owners for matters, including entity formation, buy-sell agreements, partnership and shareholder agreements, business succession, tax-free exchanges and more.

His separate accounting practice provides him with experience as a California CPA. That experience serves him well as he works with his clients' other accountants, if any, and their financial advisers to evaluate their business decisions. He also conducts financial due diligence in an effort to structure and negotiate transactions with the objective of achieving the most favorable outcome possible.

LEGAL EXPERIENCE

Mr. Yahnian represents a broad constituency of individuals, private business owners, business executives, and landowners in all aspects of estate planning, estate and trust administration, business planning and tax planning

EXPERTISE

Preparation of revocable trusts, wills, durable powers of attorney and advance health care directives
Taxation planning, including estate, income, and gift tax
Preparation of tax planning documents, including irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), grantor trusts, qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs), charitable remainder trusts (CRTs), charitable lead trusts (CLTs) and special needs trusts.
Advice and counsel regarding business succession planning, including formation of family limited partnerships and family limited liability companies
Advice and counsel to successor trustees regarding trust funding and asset allocation, estate tax returns, and distribution of assetsBecause of his experience as a Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Yahnian is able to work closely with CPAs in evaluating business decisions, structuring and negotiating transactions and conducting financial due diligence.

STEVE YAHNIAN is both an Attorney and a CPA, and also possesses the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation. All of the knowledge that those certifications and designations represent is brought to bear as Mr. Yahnian analyzes, designs, plans, prepares, organizes, implements and instructs on the operation of an estate plan or represents an estate during an estate administration. Mr. Yahnian, as a CPA, also prepares tax returns, many quite complex and sophisticated. As a result, he prepares and is cognizant of the issues involved in the preparation of gift tax and estate tax returns.

Other Advisors, CPAs and Attorneys often refer their clients or client situations to STEVE YAHNIAN when the estate issues or problems are beyond their experience, time constraints, workload or skills. At their request, we either take over the matter completely or alternative, remain in the background reviewing their work, the situation or circumstances, as they develop, thus enabling the other professional who engages us to assist them, more effectively address the issues, or represent their clients and reach a successful resolution and/or obtain an optimum result.

YAHNIAN ESTATE PLANNING is an affiliate of YAHNIAN LAW CORPORATION and of DSA ACCOUNTING. Each company is 100% owned by D. STEVEN YAHNIAN, Attorney/CPA/CFP, the author of this web site.

YAHNIAN ESTATE PLANNING serves as the estate information resource and conduit for those seeking estate planning or estate administration services, from the more modest sized estates to the extremely wealthy. Once you contact YAHNIAN ESTATE PLANNING, you will be referred to either YAHNIAN LAW CORPORATION or DSA ACCOUNTING for the appropriate professional services.

YAHNIAN ESTATE PLANNING is, among other roles, an estate planning and administration Advocate. Our client objective: Strategically and creatively design and prepare estate plans, and efficiently and effective administer trusts and estates. As always, another of our objectives is to legally minimize or reduce taxes. We do this by using knowledge of the law, experience, cutting edge learning, and multi-faceted legal practice areas of business law, estates law, real property law, tax, asset protection, and oftentimes, family law, In addition to this, STEVE YAHNIAN is also a CPA (California). This means he is cognizant of accounting principles and puts them into practice where advantageous in planning or administering estates. We accomplish all of this by reviewing the spectrum of applicable law and planning strategies, both conventional and cutting edge. Then, by putting into practice these planning techniques we purpose to design estate plans and in the correlative, reduce our clients’ taxes. We also handle probates, trust administrations, and fast track estate administrations when the estate representative comes to us for those type of services.

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