Hispanic & Latino Families
Empowering Hispanic & Latino Families in California
Our team is proud of our Hispanic and Latino roots, cultural traditions, delicious cuisines, strong work ethic, moral values, and family and community focus. One of our goals is to educate and empower the San Diego Hispanic and Latino community for continued growth and financial prosperity generation after generation—we do this through holistic estate and financial planning.
One of the best things about Hispanic and Latino culture is the heavy importance we place on family, love, and matters of the heart. We can see and feel how these values are passed on one generation after the next, regardless of our country of origin.
However, as a community, we have not been as well educated about how to legally and strategically pass on our assets to future generations instead of losing them due to unknown red tape and government bureaucracy. Given Hispanic and Latino families’ strong bonds, holistic estate planning is an opportunity for families to expand on this heart-centric approach. And, by giving the next generation a step up financially, they’ll continue their families’ economic upward mobility.
Taking a multi-generational approach is often key to understanding how our cultural traditions influence a client’s estate planning needs. We like to be hands-on, listen, and build relationships with our clients, their adult children, and grandchildren to get the full picture of what’s happening in their lives.
8 common planning opportunities and risks we often see our Hispanic and Latino clients exposed to:
Aging and Caretaking:
Hispanic and Latino people have the highest-reported rates of family caregiving compared to other ethnic groups. These communities are also much more reluctant to place their elderly “abuelitos” in a nursing home. While this is coming from a place of love and support, caregiving can take a big financial, physical, and emotional toll on the caregiver. With Legacy APC, our clients have the opportunity to create a plan before the need for caregiving arises. This ensures their families and caregivers have financial security, structural support, and the information needed to provide for every family member’s needs.
Probate Costs and Delays:
Sadly, we often get phone calls from surviving family members who have discovered mom or dad did not have any formal estate plan in place. We'll sometimes hear of a holographic will (meaning a handwritten document by the deceased stating their wishes), but unfortunately, these are not always valid in a court of law. When someone dies with a will or without an estate plan, it's an expensive ticket straight to probate court. Probate can cost anywhere from 4 to 7 percent of the estate’s assets and cause delays of nine months to well over a year.
Joint Tenancy and Joint Ownership of Property:
Many families believe that adding children or family members to the title of their properties is the solution to avoiding probate. However, this is often a huge mistake and results in many other problems, including potentially disinheriting other children and creating unnecessary exposure to creditor issues. A living trust is a great option to minimize risk while fairly leaving assets to your children and avoiding probate.
Religious-only Marriages:
Also common among older couples are marriages performed through the church but without a state marriage license to legally formalize the relationship. In these situations, the surviving "spouse" has no legal authority to step in and make decisions, be informed, or inherit property. The decedent’s family of origin would gain control, and the “spouse” would not have any. A living trust estate plan would be beneficial to you if you have a religious marriage. It will help avoid any control issues with incapacity and living or death probate.
Only One Spouse on Asset Titles:
Many older married couples also commonly have only the husband or one spouse on title to the family home. We've seen countless problems with couples assuming their surviving spouse will inherit the home hassle-free. Often, this is only possible after probating the deceased spouse's estate and spending thousands of dollars on lawyers and court fees.
Lending Credit to Family Members:
Due to the many financial disparities Hispanics and Latinos face, including debt, access to education, or access to financial tools, many young people lack access to building wealth and homeownership. Therefore, it's common to lend credit to family members, such as by buying a home in a family member's name. However, countless problems could arise, such as creditor issues, probate of assets, and even becoming disqualified for needed government benefits. As a result, we must take all these issues into account when designing a holistic estate plan that protects you and your loved ones throughout your lifetime.
Foreign-Owned Assets:
Many of our clients own assets in Mexico or other foreign countries. Failing to coordinate planning efforts in both countries can lead to unnecessary problems and costly consequences. It's always advisable to work with an attorney who works with foreign professionals to ensure no problems arise.
Planning for Your Funeral and Final Remains:
It's important that our clients get an opportunity to express their wishes for their funeral and final remains, especially if any foreign-born clients want their remains to be sent back to their home country to be buried with their family members. In the limited time available after death, it’s easy for complications to arise that could make it impossible to honor those wishes if the correct estate planning documents aren’t in place. At Legacy APC, we help facilitate these difficult conversations so there is peace of mind and clarity for everyone.
We are passionate and dedicated to supporting the Hispanic and Latino community to build generational wealth.
Nuestros Abogados Hablan Español!
At Legacy APC, we’re proud to have many Hispanic and Latino clients throughout all of San Diego County and California, including many Latino-owned family businesses. We believe in building generational wealth and empowering our community to stand up on its own, bolstering its growth now and in the future.
Nuestros abogados hablan Español. As Spanish speakers, we want to ensure all our Spanish-only clients feel heard and understood while everything is explained in terms they understand. So, whether you’re bilingual yourself or speak Spanish as a first language, we’re here for you. Call us today at (619) 696-0778 to speak with us about your estate planning needs.
