Correa Law

09/04/2026

Quick estate planning check:

When was the last time you actually looked at your estate plan?

Not thought about it.

Not remembered where the binder is. 😄

Actually reviewed it.

A. Within the last year
B. 1–3 years ago
C. More than 3 years ago
D. I don't have one yet

Estate plans aren't meant to be created and forgotten. Major changes in your family, finances, property or wishes can all be reasons to take another look.

Drop your answer below — and if you're firmly in Camp D, Correa Law can help you figure out where to begin.

09/03/2026

You created a trust. But did you actually put anything IN it?

Creating a trust and funding a trust are two different things.

And that distinction matters.

If assets that were supposed to be owned by your trust were never properly transferred, your family may discover that the plan doesn't work quite the way everyone expected.

Mario Correa explains why funding your trust is such an important part of the estate planning process.

Watch Mario explain the issue, then contact Correa Law if you're unsure whether your trust has been properly funded.

https://youtu.be/3bF9KAftXzU?si=2LN7hsnt8NxDRqVv

09/02/2026

She had a trust.

She had signed everything.

She thought she was done.

Years later, her family discovered one problem: an account opened after the trust was created had never been connected to the plan.

That's how estate planning gaps happen.

Usually, nobody does anything obviously wrong. Life simply keeps moving after the documents are signed.

You buy property. Open accounts. Change jobs. Get remarried. Welcome grandchildren.

Your estate plan needs to keep up with the life you're actually living.
If it has been several years since you reviewed your estate plan, schedule a review with Correa Law.

09/01/2026

Signing your estate planning documents feels like the finish line.

But sometimes, it's only the beginning.

A trust that was never funded. An old beneficiary designation. A new account that never made it into the plan. A home that's still titled incorrectly.

These small gaps can create very big problems when your family eventually needs the plan to work.

This week, we're looking at what should happen after the documents are signed — and the common details families overlook.

Read the full article to see 7 things worth checking in your estate plan today.

08/29/2026

A husband paid for the house. After his wife passed away, he ended up in court fighting her children for it.

Mario breaks down how a simple refinance — done in one spouse's name only, years before anyone thought about estate planning — turned into a legal battle that a will and a trust would have completely prevented. This is especially common in second marriages and blended families. 👇

https://youtu.be/Qwhhglfe2NI?si=PQ0skKdbJd1RqADB

Don't wait until it's too late. Call Mario at 773-489-8500.

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

08/28/2026

A near-miss story — a family who caught a planning gap in time and fixed it before it mattered.

A different kind of story to end the month (details changed to protect privacy):

A client came in for a routine review of her estate plan — nothing was wrong, she just believed in checking in every few years. While going through her asset list with us, we noticed a savings account she'd opened after her trust was signed. It held a meaningful sum, and it was still titled in her name alone, with no beneficiary designation naming the trust.

It was a five-minute fix. We updated the account's beneficiary designation that same week.

Two years later, she suffered a stroke that left her unable to manage her own affairs. Because everything, including that account, was properly funded, her successor trustee stepped in immediately — no guardianship proceeding, no court involvement, no delay in paying for her care.

Nothing dramatic happened here. That's exactly the point. The gap was caught during a routine check-in, long before it became a crisis, and it simply never got the chance to matter.

Trust funding isn't something you finish once. A periodic review — especially after you open a new account, buy property, or receive an inheritance — is what keeps a well-drafted trust actually doing its job.

08/26/2026

A family that had a trust on paper but still ended up in probate because it was never funded.

A story I think about often (details changed to protect privacy):

A couple set up their trust years ago, checked it off their list, and moved on. A few years later, the wife inherited a small rental duplex from her own mother. She meant to get around to retitling it into the trust — it was on her list, just never at the top of it.

When she passed away unexpectedly, her adult children assumed everything was in order. Their mother had a trust, after all. It wasn't until they sat down with the paperwork that they discovered the duplex was still titled in her individual name. Every other asset transferred smoothly, quietly, without a single court filing. That one property didn't.

Now the family is opening a probate estate for a single piece of real estate, months after they thought the estate was already settled — for a property that represented a fraction of what she owned, but is costing them a disproportionate amount of time, money, and frustration.

A trust isn't a one-time task. It's not just what you fund on day one — it's every asset you acquire afterward, too. If you've bought, inherited, or refinanced anything since your trust was signed, that's worth a second look.

08/25/2026

Signed a trust and thought your estate was protected? Not so fast. A trust only controls the assets you actually place in it — and it’s easy to miss something important. Read our plain-English guide to learn how to make sure your trust is properly funded, common funding mistakes, and simple fixes you can implement today.

Read more: https://wix.to/ZsbGbSi

It's one of the most common estate planning mix-ups we see: someone signs a trust, feels confident their estate is protected, and never takes the next step. A trust document by itself doesn't do anything. It only protects the assets that are actually inside it — and it's surprisingly easy to miss ...

08/24/2026

A trust only works if you actually put your assets into it — and it's shockingly easy to miss one.

Mario just saw a family whose trust covered almost everything, except an out-of-state vacation property they forgot to retitle. Now that one property has to go through probate anyway.

His advice: make a list of every major asset you own, including real estate, and confirm each one is properly funded into your trust. 👇 Not sure yours is? Call Mario at 773-489-8500.

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

08/21/2026

Co-trustee siblings who couldn't agree — and the plan that could have prevented the standoff.

Another story worth sharing (again, details changed):

A father named his two adult children as co-trustees of the family's real estate holding company — a well-meaning attempt at fairness, since neither sibling would outrank the other. But he never anticipated how differently they'd think about the business itself.

One sibling wanted to sell a struggling property and reinvest the proceeds. The other wanted to hold onto it, convinced the neighborhood was about to turn around. Because both had equal authority as co-trustees, neither could act without the other's sign-off — and neither would budge.

Six months of stalemate followed. Rent went uncollected while they argued over who was even authorized to talk to the tenant. Eventually, they had to go to court just to get a judge to break the tie.

Naming co-trustees can work well when siblings genuinely operate as a team. But it can just as easily turn a values disagreement into a legal standoff — especially when there's no tiebreaker built into the plan. A single trustee with clear authority, or co-trustees with a defined process for resolving disagreements, would have prevented months of paralysis.

If more than one person is going to hold decision-making power over a family asset, it's worth asking upfront: what happens if they don't agree?