FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HMA Law Group Receives 2023 Best of Newport Beach Award

Newport Beach Award Program Honors the Achievement

NEWPORT BEACH November 5, 2023 -- HMA Law Group has been selected for the 2023 Best of Newport Beach Award in the Divorce lawyer category by the Newport Beach Award Program.

Each year, the Newport Beach Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Newport Beach area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2023 Newport Beach Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Newport Beach Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Newport Beach Award Program

The Newport Beach Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Newport Beach area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Newport Beach Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy.

SOURCE: Newport Beach Award Program

CONTACT:
Newport Beach Award Program
Email: PublicRelations@companies-regional.com
URL: http://www.companies-regional.com

When you are considering a Divorce, one of the decisions that you will be required to make is whether you petition for Legal Separation or Dissolution of Marriage.

Some Similarities

There are a lot of similarities between the two. However, a judgment of legal separation will not end your marriage. You cannot remarry after getting a Legal Separation decree. You may, however, get adjudication of child custody, child and spousal support, bifurcation of community property and almost every order that is available in a dissolution of marriage proceeding.

Some Differences

There are key differences between the two ways of ending marriage. California is a no-fault state. What that means is that a party wishing to terminate a marriage can do so without having to prove much. All the party needs to do is state that they have irreconcilable differences with their spouse, and once they convince a judge of that, there is very little the other party can do to prevent the granting of a divorce decree. In this respect, Legal Separation is different in that both parties have to agree to a Legal Separation. The judge cannot thrust a legal separation on a party who wishes to divorce his or her spouse.

Why then would anyone want Legal Separation but not Dissolution of Marriage?

The most common reason is that neither party meets California Residency requirements for filing a divorce. If this is the case, a party may file a Petition for Legal Separation, and amend it later to a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage when they have met the residency requirements.

Parties to a marriage may also have religious or moral scruples which prohibit a divorce. Legal Separation may be a good option for an incompatible couple with these reservations about divorce.

Lastly, a person may be getting health insurance or other benefits through their spouse, and may want to be legally separated in order to have access to those benefits (note not all health insurance plans grant spousal benefits to legally separated spouses...check with your plan).

Keep in mind that Legal Separation is a distinct proceeding. If you get a judgment of Legal Separation, and later want to dissolve the marriage, you will need to file another petition, this time for dissolution of marriage, and pay attendant court fees all over again. Therefore you might want to think long and hard before filing for Legal Separation when you know that you really want a divorce. As always, consulting with trusted counsel is a good idea prior to making a divorce related move. Call 800-756-1091 and set-up an appointment if you need help.

At the end of this specified term of years the property passes to the beneficiaries of the trust (typically the Trustor's children or grandchildren), who may rent back the property to the Trustor, allowing the Trustor to further lower the value of his taxable estate.

The benefits of the QPRT are that it "freezes" the value of the gifted property for estate tax purposes. Therefore if a Trustor expects to survive 20 years and expects the value of his personal residence to double during that period, a QPRT will allow him to count only the current value of the personal residence (at the time of QPRT formation) in his taxable estate, even if his property appreciates sharply over time.

However, this can be a double edged sword as the beneficiaries inherit the carry-over income tax basis of the Trustor when they sell the residence, rather than the "stepped-up" tax basis to which they would be entitled had they just inherited the property.

Risk Tolerance

A client electing to use the QPRT estate planning tool is essentially making a bet that he will live beyond the term of the QPRT. If he does not survive the trust, the personal residence in the QPRT will be considered a part of his taxable estate, negating the reasons for creating the QPRT.  Similarly, given that the QPRT is an irrevocable trust, the proceeds of the sale of the personal residence after the remainder interest has transferred to the beneficiaries, will not be available to the Trustor to fulfill his financial needs.

The net of the above is that the suitability of a QPRT will depend of the age for the Trustor(s), their life expectancy and health, their risk tolerance, as well as the liquidity and size of their estate. A client considering the use of a QPRT in their estate plan should seek the assistance of qualified counsel.