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1 week ago | 
montereyherald.com | Liza Horvath
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2 weeks ago | 
montereyherald.com | Liza Horvath
Question: My sister and I stayed with our mom at her home for the last three weeks of her life. When she passed, my sister and I contacted the social security administration, closed her safe deposit box and her post office box. We also took the items of personal property we were entitled to under her trust and cleared out all the old files Mom had. My mom had appointed a professional fiduciary as her trustee.
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1 month ago | 
montereyherald.com | Liza Horvath
Question: I will inherit my parents’ home when they go to the great beyond. I am told that I can assume their mortgage – which has a great rate since they are so smart and refinanced when the rates were low. However, with all the problems with getting homeowner’s insurance in California, I am not sure if I can get insurance and, if I can, what the cost will be. Can I also assume their homeowner’s insurance?
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1 month ago | 
montereyherald.com | Liza Horvath
Question: I heard you speak recently and you said that “everyone over age 18 should have a will, power of attorney for finances and an Advance Health Care Directive.” I have those documents and have a Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment as well. Do I need both a POLST and an AHCD? Answer: The short answer is that if you are seriously ill and would not want to be resuscitated in a medical emergency, then you should have both documents.
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1 month ago | 
montereyherald.com | Liza Horvath
At a certain time of life people begin to focus their attention on getting their estate planning done. Maybe there was a recent health scare, the birth of a baby or a close scrape that galvanized you to think about your “stuff” and what you want done with it after you are gone. The planning process can be arduous and has the tendency to make us face things we would really rather not – but out of necessity we force ourselves to do the planning. Subscribe to continue reading this article.
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1 month ago | 
montereyherald.com | Liza Horvath
Working with a money manager is mostly about relationships and, second to that good relationship is return. Yes, the markets have been performing extremely well for a long time now, but I would submit that the return you are seeing is more about risk tolerance than the knowledge of your manager. Originally Published: March 1, 2025 at 11:08 AM PST
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2 months ago | 
montereyherald.com | Liza Horvath
Question: My mom set up a trust for me and my sister is my trustee. Mom had worked with an attorney and a money manager for the past 20 plus years and my sister was supposed to continue to work with them as my trustee. She did at first, but now she has changed to another lawyer and to her own money manager. Neither the new lawyer nor the money guy will talk with me. I feel like I am iced out of knowing what is going on with the trust that my mom set up for me! What gives?
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2 months ago | 
montereyherald.com | Liza Horvath
Dear Readers: I am on vacation but, due to Valentine’s Day, I am rerunning this column which originally ran in 2019. Enjoy!Question: My dad is super independent but, as he is getting up there in years, he is also becoming kind of a push over – particularly with women. Mom died years ago and he now has some younger women coming by to “visit.” I worry that he is either giving them money or making them loans. In fact, he told me that he made a loan to “a girlfriend” and she has yet to pay him back.
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2 months ago | 
montereyherald.com | Liza Horvath
Question: You have written that when we die, a copy of our trust will be given to all the beneficiaries we have named in our trust which is required by law. In a recent column, a reader asked what to do because she thought her friends might be envious of others because they will see in her trust that she is giving more to some than others.
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2 months ago | 
montereyherald.com | Liza Horvath
Question: I heard that body composting was legalized in California and yet I have not seen any companies offering it here. Is it legal and, if so, are there companies offering it?Answer: In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill to allow natural organic reduction in California. However, the law does not go into effect […] Originally Published: January 25, 2025 at 9:02 AM PST
