Mitchell S. Ostwald Blog

Early Retirement a Scary Health Option

Published on June 28, 2011

As reported on Money.CNN.com on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 by Parija Kavilanz. Employers are getting out of the retirement insurance business. This could be worrisome for American workers who want to retire, before hitting the Medicare-eligible age of 65. A majority of large employers today offer some form  ... More »

FINRA Alert: Structured Notes with Principal Protection

Published on June 10, 2011

Structured Notes With Principal Protection: Note the Terms of Your Investment As reported by FINRA.org The retail market for structured notes with principal protection has been growing in recent years. While these products often have reassuring names that include some variant of “principal protection,”  ... More »

Lawyers Make Millions off Madoff Mess

Published on February 16, 2011

As reported on Money.CNN.com by Aaron Smith on Wednesday, February 16, 2011. Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme left thousands of victims in its wake — and lawyers and consultants are reaping millions in payments from the financial devastation. “The only winners in the Madoff scandal are the lawyers,”  ... More »

New California Laws – 2011

Published on January 13, 2011

Individual laws as reported by The Daily Recorder, Vol. 104, No. 2, January 4, 2011 Daily Journal. (This is only a selection of laws pertaining to our practice, not all new laws for 2011) Business and Professions AB2764: (Committee on Judiciary): Continues the State Bar’s authority to assess and collect  ... More »

Probate & Trusts – Child Born Out of Wedlock

Published on January 11, 2011

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  ... More »

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

Published on December 28, 2010

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  ... More »

Tiny But Powerful: The Estate Tax Lobby

Published on December 21, 2010

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  ... More »

Schwab YieldPlus Fund Update

Published on December 13, 2010

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  ... More »

Make Money in 2011: Your Investments

Published on November 23, 2010

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  ... More »

Probate & Trusts – Merger Doctrine

Published on November 9, 2010

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  ... More »