Probate & Trusts – Child Born Out of Wedlock

Biological child born out of wedlock is beneficiary where trust unambiguously defines ‘issue’ as unadopted lineal descendants. A California Court of Appeal overturned the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of CITIZENS BUSINESS BANK v. JONATHAN CARRANO.  Appellant claimed that he was entitled to distribution from the estate of his recently deceased grandparents and father, …

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January 11, 2011 – 8:39 am | By admin-1 | Posted in CA Appellate Court Reports, Estate Planning, Recent Articles | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

FINRA Alert: “Phishing” & Other Online Identity Theft Scams

As reported on FINRA.org. Fraudsters can turn on a dime when it comes to creating new pitches to separate hard-working Americans from their money. Virtually any news item, positive or negative, can become a “hook” for a new scam—and the various financial institution mergers and closings following the financial markets turmoil of 2008 and 2009 …

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December 28, 2010 – 1:14 pm | By admin-1 | Posted in Investments/Securities, Recent Articles | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Tiny But Powerful: The Estate Tax Lobby

As reported on Money.CNN.com by Tory Newmyer of Fortune Magazine on December 21, 2010. The super-rich got an early Christmas gift in the $858 billion tax package that President Obama signed into law on Friday. On top of a two-year extension of Bush-era income tax rates, the wealthiest Americans dodged an estate tax that was set …

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December 21, 2010 – 1:15 pm | By admin-1 | Posted in Estate Planning, Recent Articles | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Schwab YieldPlus Fund Update

Court Approves Supplemental Notice of Newly Proposed Settlement and Opt Out Opportunity for Schwab YieldPlus Class Members All Schwab YieldPlus class members are now free to opt out of the Class Action settlement, but must do so in writing and postmarked no later than January 14th, 2011. The Law Offices of Mitchell S. Ostwald are …

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December 13, 2010 – 11:12 am | By admin-1 | Posted in Investments/Securities, Recent Articles | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Make Money in 2011: Your Investments

As reported on Money.CNN.com by Penelope Wang of Money Magazine, on November 17, 2010. Before looking ahead to 2011, you may need a moment to recover from 2010′s wild ride. Sure, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 8% so far this year. But along the way the stock market plunged 16% from April to July, then rebounded 9% …

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November 23, 2010 – 11:46 am | By admin-1 | Posted in Investments/Securities, Recent Articles | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Probate & Trusts – Merger Doctrine

Trust did not terminate under ‘merger doctrine’ since intent of settler was for trust to continue until final distribution of trust property occurred. A California Court of Appeal affirmed the lower court’s decision in ROBERT WEINBERGER v. JAMES G. MORRIS et al.  The trial court found that the merger doctrine did not apply in this …

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November 9, 2010 – 9:08 am | By admin-1 | Posted in CA Appellate Court Reports, Recent Articles | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

New 401(k) Tax Break is Just Around the Corner

As reported on Money.CNN.com by Susie Poppick on October 24, 2010. People with 401(k) plans got a nice tax break last month, but they’ll have to wait for some red tape to be cleared out of the way before they can actually take advantage of it. Thanks to a provision in the Small Business Jobs …

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October 26, 2010 – 2:25 pm | By admin-1 | Posted in Investments/Securities, Recent Articles | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Probate & Trusts – Care Custodian

Person is not ‘care custodian’ under Probate Code by providing limited assistance services to decedent before he was placed in nursing home. A California Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s decision in DAWN AUSTIN V. DEBRA SIMPSON.  Appellant claimed that respondent was a care custodian for appellant’s father and that this designation invalidated several …

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October 7, 2010 – 11:37 am | By admin-1 | Posted in CA Appellate Court Reports, Estate Planning, Recent Articles | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

IMF Says Double-Dip Recession Unlikely

As reported on Money.CNN.com by Ben Rooney, October 6, 2010. The International Monetary Fund said a double dip recession is unlikely, but it expects growth in developed economies to be outpaced by emerging powerhouses. In the first two chapters of its World Economic Outlook, the IMF estimated that global economic activity will expand at a …

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October 6, 2010 – 9:23 am | By admin-1 | Posted in Recent Articles | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

SEC Charges Bay Area Investment Adviser for Not Disclosing Conflict of Interest to Investors

As reported on SEC.gov, in Press Release 2010-174, September 29, 2010. The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Bay Area investment adviser with securities law violations for switching his clients between two related investments without informing them that the switch would boost the commissions they had to pay. The SEC found that San Ramon, …

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September 29, 2010 – 12:23 pm | By admin-1 | Posted in Investments/Securities, Recent Articles | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)