We are an Estate Planning law office located in Tustin, California.
Since 1986 we have been providing professional legal services specializing in Estate Planning, Business Planning and Elder law, we can assist you with all of your needs.
Todd M. Litman
Experience:
LITMAN and ASSOCIATES, Tustin, California
Owner of law firm from 1987 to present.
Areas of practice include Estate Planning, Probate, Trusts, Elder Law, Tax and Business matters.
Lecturer:
Offers clinics on Elder Law and Estate Planning for Alzheimer's Orange County and St. Jude Hospital Caregiver Resource Center.
Professor at Coastline Community College teaching Estate Planning, Probate, and Elder Law courses.
Member:
California State Bar; Orange County Bar Association; State and County sections on Estate Planning, Probate and Elder law.
Admitted to California State Bar, United States Tax Court and United States District Court, 1986.
Education:
University of San Diego School of Law, LL.M. (Masters in Taxation) 1986.
University of San Diego School of Law, Juris Doctor Degree, 1985.
California State University of Fullerton Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration with emphasis in International Marketing. Dean's Honor List, President of Pre-Law Society, Member of Student Board of Directors.
Honors:
Awarded by the Orange County Bar Association LRS "Lawyer of the Year", 1993.
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A QUALIFIED, YET AFFORDABLE ATTORNEY TO HELP YOU WITH:
YOUR ESTATE PLANNING NEEDS
TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT STARTING A BUSINESS
TO HELP QUALIFY A LOVED ONE FOR MEDI-CAL.
I AM YOUR ATTORNEY.
Estate Planning
My office handles the preparation of wills, revocable living trusts, insurance trusts, and other documents to help with your estate planning needs.
Business law
We set up corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, advise existing businesses on their buy-sell agreements and help with the buying and selling of businesses.
Elder law needs
Finally, if you have a loved one who needs to enter a nursing home, we help to prepare the necessary documents that will be needed in qualifying that person for Medi-Cal, if they have no other means of paying the nursing home costs.
Please call my office or e-mail me for an appointment to discuss your needs. Be the one who sleeps well at night knowing your affairs are in order.
Our office is located right off the 55 freeway at Edinger Ave. (between the 55 freeway and the 5 freeway)
If you are traveling on the 55 freeway, you will exit Edinger Avenue. Once you are one Edinger Ave., you will come to a signal named AT&T. Turn right at AT&T. You will then see our building on the left hand side after turning right on AT&T and we are located where you see a fountain in front.
If you are coming from the 5 Freeway you will exit Red Hill Avenue and travel south until you come to Edinger Avenue. Turn right at Edinger Avenue and proceed about 1/8th of a mile and turn left at the AT&T signal. You will then look for our building on the left hand side with a fountain in front.
I have been helping people and businesses since 1987, If you need someone you can trust to handle your Estate Planning needs, Starting a Business or Elder law questions, contact my office
Tel. (714) 545-4640.
We'd really love to hear from you so please call or email us.
Law Offices of Todd M. Litman
Telephone: 714-545-4640 - Fax: 714-619-2790
1422 Edinger Avenue Suite 100
Tustin, CA 92780
As a first step to learning about a Revocable Living Trust, it is important to understand what we mean by Estate Planning. Some definitions are in order.
Estate: All wealth accumulated during one's lifetime. Examples of property in an Estate may include the following:
1. Real Property (residence and rental property);Planning: To overcome obstacles when transferring your Estate upon your death and to preserve your wealth during life. Some of the obstacles to overcome are:
Having reviewed the definitions above, our goal as your estate planning attorney, is to take your estate, which consists of the items mentioned above, and attempt to overcome various obstacles that will occur both during your life time and upon your death.
If you are interested in having us help plan your estate, then please go to the link entitled Forms and Documents and download the Revocable Living Trust Package, which will explain why you need certain documents and also download the Revocable Living Trust Questionnaire form. Once you have completed the Revocable Living Trust Questionnaire form, contact my office either by e-mail or telephone and someone will set up an appointment for you to begin discussing your estate planning needs.
Many clients contact our office confused (and rightfully so) when trying to start a new business. My goal as your business attorney, is to assist you in selecting and setting up the proper business entity which will provide you with the necessary protection from lawsuits, and also be the most tax efficient entity for your ongoing business operations. We will discuss whether it is best to be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a limited partnership, a C corporation, an S corporation, or a limited liability company. When looking for an attorney to help you with your business needs, it is essential to make sure the attorney has the experience in dealing with other businesses, and more importantly a tax background. Having practiced since 1986, I represent over 100 small to medium sized corporations. I also have a Masters Degree in taxation which is important when determining which entity would be best for your business needs.
Today is a more litigious society than ever. Many of my clients have come to me after discovering that their personal assets were being seized, after losing a business lawsuit. By setting up a corporation, there are ways you can protect your personal assets from lawsuits. Unfortunately, some of these clients had corporations, but they discovered that either their corporate minutes had not been updated for over five years, or when they were formed, a do-it-yourself company had not included the proper format. Now the plaintiff in a lawsuit can pierce your corporate veil and come after you personally if these factors apply. By coming to our law firm, you can rest assured that when your business entity is established, it will be established appropriately, and will insulate your personal assets from lawsuits.
Our fees for setting up a corporation are approximately $1,400.00. This includes attorney’s fees, costs paid to the Secretary of State, costs to the Department of Corporations when issuing stock, costs to the Franchise Tax Board, and costs for obtaining your corporate kit, which includes your seal and stock certificates. As your attorney, we will prepare your Articles of Incorporation, your Bylaws, and your organizational minutes. We will also obtain your taxpayer identification number for you, we will issue stock, and we will continue to represent your corporation for all your business needs.
In addition to forming limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and other entities, we also prepare buy-sell agreements to provide for events should a partner die, become disabled or want to leave a business to your heirs. If you are thinking of buying or selling your business your first step should be to meet with an attorney. Please contact our office either by e-mail or by telephone to set up an appointment so that I can help you with your business needs.
If you are interested in forming a corporation or limited liability company click on the Forms and Documents link and your will able to download the three page Questionnaire form that we ask you to fill out and send back to us so that the process may begin.
As an elder law attorney, I will help you and your family through a difficult process. When looking for an elder law attorney, you should seek a compassionate attorney, who has knowledge of nursing home issues, Medi-Cal laws, and estate planning opportunities. Having practiced law since 1986, I have developed a network of people that can help answer questions for families who have loved ones who are physically or mentally incapacitated.
My first goal as an elder law attorney is to make sure an individual has the proper estate planning documents prepared, so that when an incapacity does occur, we are able to shift assets to qualify that person for Medi-Cal. Please go to the Forms and Documents link to download the "Revocable Living Trust Package" that explains what documents are needed for proper Medi-Cal Planning. Long term skilled nursing care currently costs approximately $8,000 per month. The only way this can be paid is through your own funds, through long term care insurance, or through Medi-Cal. The largest misconception in the area of nursing home costs is that Medicare will pay for those nursing home bills. Medicare only pays a portion and for a limited period of time. If you have planned ahead, there are excellent long term care insurance policies that will help in paying for these needs. I can put you in touch with individuals who can assess your needs and guide you through the selection of an appropriate long term care insurance policy. If you do not have the policy established or your loved one is already in need of nursing home care, then we will begin the process of determining whether or not they already qualify for Medi-Cal or how best to proceed.
I always tell clients that it is best to be able to pay privately for a period of time when a loved one is going into a nursing home. If you go in as a Medi-Cal patient, oftentimes you will not find the type of facility you want your family member to reside. As long as the nursing home is Medi-Cal certified, once someone qualifies for Medi-Cal, they cannot request that you leave the nursing facility.
If you are interested in discussing a Medi-Cal qualification procedure, please either e-mail me or call my office to set up an appointment. The first appointment is approximately one hour, and we ask that you bring with you all financial data concerning assets that are owned, and also a list of income, so that we can create an appropriate plan of action. Please do not make the mistake of spending down all of your assets, based upon the inappropriate advice given by many individuals that you can only have $2,000 in order to qualify for Medi-Cal.
If you have a child who has reached the age of 18, they are considered to be an adult by law. If they go away to college or travel and become ill, you as a parent, have no authority to make any medical decisions for them. This is why as soon as my son reached the age of 18 and went away to college I decided to develop a college plan for him and for other clients of mine. The plan consists of a Durable Power of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directive, and HIPAA Privacy Waiver. The Advance Health Care Directive and HIPAA Privacy Waiver are the key components to the plan, allowing parents to make medical decisions and to obtain medical information for their child if the child becomes incapacitated. The Durable Power of Attorney also allows the parents to sign for the child if the child were to become incapacitated and unable to sign on their own. The cost for this basic plan is $200.00. If you are interested, your child would fill out the College Plan Questionnaire Form, found in the documents section of this website, and call my office to discuss the documents.
The following are forms and documents that you can download to your computer. Once downloaded you can open them to view and or print out. These files are in a standard format, they are PDF files which will open in your browser or in a PDF viewer for example Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Revocable Living Trust Package
Revocable Living Trust Questionnaire
Site moved 6/30/2020