Winstead Law Group, APC

10/05/2026

⚖️ Winstead Law Group, APC ⚖️
WILLS. TRUSTS. POWERS OF ATTORNEY.
Estate Planning Attorney with 20+ years experience.
949.639.9606
www.WinsteadLaw.net

📜 An estate plan is more than papers in a pretty binder. It's a road map for your loved ones.

🙏 Please! Have a family meeting to discuss what happens when you're gone.

⚖️ Winstead Law Group, APC hosts family meetings with our clients and their families.

🗣 This is a good opportunity to review legal documents, discuss people's roles and duties, and manage expectations.

😠 We know it can be difficult, but this is also the time to explain why there may be unequal distributions of assets.

👩‍⚖️ Explaining your decisions while you're alive will avoid hurt feelings and litigation after you pass away.

➗️ Don't let the division of your assets divide your family.

Winstead Law Group, APC practice in the areas of tax, business & estate planning. Priding ourselves on client service, it’s our goal to tailor plans to each client’s unique needs. We do not believe that effective client representation can be provided by “cookie-cutter” planning. Contact us.

10/02/2026

A dead person's credit report usually goes unchecked for months. That is exactly why thieves want the name.

An obituary is public, searchable and stays online for years. Look at what usually goes into one.

A full birth date. A birthplace. A mother's maiden name. A street address. These are the same facts a bank asks for when someone opens an account or resets a password.

Put them in one place, add a name that is rarely watched, and a stranger has most of what it takes to apply for credit. The bills go to an address no one reads. The damage can sit for months before anyone notices.

Then there is the service itself. A published time and place tells anyone reading that the family will be away from the house for a few hours.

None of this means writing less about the person. It means writing about different things:

Age, or the birth year only, instead of the full birth date.
City and state instead of the street.
First names instead of full names.
The work, the faith, the grandkids, the stories.
The charity by name, so people give on its own site.

That is still a full tribute. It just gives a stranger nothing to fill out a form with.

The step that actually closes the door comes after the service. Mail a copy of the death certificate to Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, certified with a return receipt, and ask for a deceased notice on the file. One bureau is enough, because it passes the notice to the other two. TransUnion says the notice goes on within five business days, and lenders who pull the file after that see the person has died.

And expect the phone to ring. Callers claiming to be collectors on a debt the family does not owe. Someone posing as the funeral home about an unpaid balance. Donation pages that route the money somewhere else. In general, a person's debts are paid by their estate, not by their children. Hang up and call back on a number already known.

Source: AARP obituary scam guidance (updated Sept. 8, 2023), FTC Debts and Deceased Relatives and funeral-home imposter alert, Equifax and TransUnion deceased-notice pages, checked September 2026.

Educational information only, not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. Rules vary by state, so confirm your own situation with a licensed professional.

09/26/2026

🙏 Please! Have a family meeting to discuss what happens when you're gone.
⚖️ Winstead Law Group, APC hosts family meetings with our clients and their families.
🗣 This is a good opportunity to review legal documents, discuss people's roles and duties, and manage expectations.
😠 We know it can be difficult, but also explain why there may be unequal distributions of assets.
👩‍⚖️ Airing this out now will avoid hurt feelings and litigation after you pass away.

From no-contest clauses to security protocols, planning heads off family disputes before they start — sparing your loved ones additional stress.

09/26/2026

⚖️ Choosing the right successor trustee is of utmost importance when creating a Trust.

⚖️ According to the analysis of 640 trust disputes, in 74% of cases a trustee was accused of misconduct.

⚖️ One of the biggest pitfalls for handing down wealth is choosing one child to control a family trust when siblings or other relatives would also benefit.

⚖️ A Trust contest will destroy families.

⚖️ Call us to discuss the traits to look for in a successor trustee and your options. It doesn't have to be a family member.

📞949.639.9606

Study reveals estate-planning choices likely to cause conflict

The study identified contested trust disputes by examining thousands of civil filings that were scheduled to come before San Francisco Superior Court.

09/11/2026

On this 25th anniversary of September 11th, take a moment to hug a loved one a bit longer, text a friend, and appreciate your blessings, because it can all change in a moment.

Last night, September 9, 2,977 drones rose over New York Harbor and formed the Twin Towers at full architectural scale.

The lights first gathered into a helix, swirling upward before assembling into the shape of the towers.

There were exactly 2,977 lights, one for every person killed in the September 11 attacks.

The installation, called “2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor,” was created for the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and shaped with input from victims’ families, survivors and first responders. Among those involved was retired FDNY firefighter Tim Brown, who lost close friends on 9/11. Three of the lights honored firefighters Chris Blackwell, Terry Hatton and Michael Lynch.

The towers eventually broke apart back into individual lights.

05/25/2026

🎖 Our office is closed today in honor of Memorial Day.
🪖 Please take a moment to remember our fallen Veterans.

02/03/2026

These are good slides and address some common misconceptions. Scroll through them to learn what Wills and Trusts do, and don't do.

Reach out to us should you have any questions.