The Law Office of Lisa Aminnia

05/13/2026

Estate planning clients often express this exact worry about who will be there for them when they die. Check out this powerful video explaining a real-world perspective.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/805349295731692/?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&fs=e&mibextid=wwXIfr&fs=e

05/12/2025

A common question people ask me is whether there is an easier (which they usually mean as “less costly”) way to transfer assets to their beneficiaries instead of preparing a living trust. Often they want to just add people’s names to the deed. This article highlights some, but not all, of the MANY reasons why doing so is usually a very bad idea.

From mortgage complications to tax issues, here are 15 risks to consider before adding someone to your property deed.

02/14/2025

***Many clients have been contacting me after the recent devastating Los Angeles fires. Rumors are circulating that insurance companies may not want to pay out on claims for those who lost their homes in the fires if the homes were titled in the name of their living trust. With the insurance market as tough as it is in Southern California, and so many insurers already backing out of coverage in high-risk disaster-prone areas, the existing companies covering the area will have a lot of claims to process. It’s quite possible that they will do anything they can to deny claim if there’s any possible way for them to do so.

If your house is owned by your living trust, you should contact your homeowner’s insurance company and have your trust listed as an additional insured on your homeowners policy. This should be a basic endorsement (at no additional cost) on your existing policy, but you need to specifically ask for it. The insurance company may ask for a copy of your trust or a Certification of Trust to make this change.

11/06/2024

Do you have questions about advance healthcare directives? Have you always wondered how social workers can help when it comes to medical challenges? Are you concerned about what your religion may or may not think about topics like organ donation or "pulling the plug"? Hamakom is hosting a FREE community event on Sunday, November 17, at 10 am in West Hills. Sign up now to RSVP.

11/29/2023

I would usually recommend keeping a binder of all original signed documents, letting your agents know where it is located, and also keeping scanned copies of all originals in the cloud and/or with your agents for safe-keeping, but to each their own…

Aretha Franklin's sons were each awarded property by a judge in Michigan after her handwritten will from 2014 was found in between couch cushions.

04/04/2023

Charitable giving is indeed another way to handle estate planning. What do you think of giving everything away and not leaving anything to your children??

Kutcher told Dax Shepard in a 2018 interview that he and his wife have no intentions of leaving their money for their two children – daughter Wyatt and son Dimitri.

08/04/2022

It's not only $100,000,000+ estates that take a long time to go through the probate courts. Probate has many uncertainties, and even the probate of a single house worth less than $500,000 in Los Angeles (which ultimately faced issues between family members, a potential foreclosure, and then litigation with an overbid buyer of the house) took almost 5 years to close.

A judge in Minnesota ruled how the estate will be dispersed.

04/12/2022

Lawyers know we can make a great punchline to a joke especially due to all the stereotypes you might see in movies, on TV or, well, in real life. BUT, most of us are lovely compassionate people with a heart who care for our clients! So please, be kind to lawyers today and everyday!

Want to be even kinder to your fellow lawyers? I’m running a networking meeting for attorneys only today, 4/12/2022 at 12 noon Pacific time on Zoom. PM me for more information or if you want the login link!

(International “Be Kind to Lawyers” Day is the second Tuesday of April, so this year it falls today on April 12, 2022)

10/22/2021

Having your legal affairs in order is super important, but so is leaving proper instructions for your family, friends and loved ones about your wishes and intentions when you are no longer around or able to make decisions for yourself.

A letter of instruction is an informal estate planning document that clearly communicates instructions and desires that are to be handled after a person dies. It guides surviving family members through personal, financial and funeral information.

03/05/2021

It's always best to prepare estate planning documents with an attorney. Here's a great example of why someone shouldn't wait until there are potential issues of mental capacity or try to just handwrite a Will.

Shawn Southwick King claims the US TV legend was "of questionable mental capacity" when he signed.