Brian Mandel on Being One of Fewer Than One Percent of California Attorneys Certified

What happens when a kid who grew up in New York City studies biology at the State University of New York planning to be a scientist, discovers there is no money in that, goes into sales selling laboratory supplies and equipment in Manhattan, gets transferred by his company to Orange County, California about forty years ago, decides to go to law school at Western State University, graduates around 1996 and starts clerking for the Orange County District Attorney's Office planning to become a prosecuting attorney And then spends six years at that firm, suggests to his boss that they both sit for the California Certified Specialist examination in estate planning, trust, and probate law because it would distinguish them from other attorneys, they both take it, and he passes and his boss does not, asks to be made a partner, gets told no, and opens his own shop from scratch? In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Brian Mandel of The Law Offices of Brian S. Mandel in Laguna Hills and Irvine, California — one of fewer than one percent of California attorneys certified as a specialist in estate planning, trust Brian explains why no asset protection plan can be made truly bulletproof regardless of what gets advertised online, and why every plan has to be in place before the threat arrives — because California's four-year fraudulent conveyance statute means that if you transfer assets to a trust or to relatives after learning a lawsuit may be coming, a court can claw those assets back and may sanction you for the attempt. He walks through the California private retirement plan — a tool available only to California residents that lets business owners segregate assets above and beyond their 401k contribution limits into a plan they design and control themselves, setting their own retirement age, placing into it cash, stock, real estate, limited liability companies, and vacation properties They also discuss the single biggest pattern Brian sees across 2,500 estate plans that end up failing when the family needs them: the unfunded trust, where attorneys can handle every real estate deed right there in the office at signing, but the client is the only one who can walk into the bank and retitle the accounts — and a meaningful percentage never do — and the family discovers at the absolute worst moment that the three hundred thousand dollar account was never actually transferred. Brian Mandel is the founder and principal of The Law Offices of Brian S. Mandel, Inc. in Laguna Hills and Irvine, California, one of fewer than one percent of California attorneys certified as a specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law by the State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, a graduate of Western State University College of Law and the State University of New York, a member of the Speakers Bureau for the Trusts and Estates Section of the California State Bar, a past Chairman of the Board of Jewish Family Service of Orange County, and an attorney who has served Southern California families and business owners for nearly thirty years. Connect with Brian Mandel: brianmandellaw.com Email: brian@brianmandellaw.com Phone: 949-660-0007 24031 El Toro Road, Suite 210, Laguna Hills, CA 92653 Also: 7700 Irvine Center Drive, Suite 800, Irvine, CA 92618 Serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego, and surrounding Southern California Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Brian Mandel 00:14 One of fewer than one percent of California attorneys certified in estate planning trust and probate law 00:48 Biology degree, no money in science, Manhattan lab supply sales, and the transfer to Orange County forty years ago 01:53 Orange County declared bankruptcy in 1996 — the first major municipal bankruptcy — and a hiring freeze that changed everything 02:42 Finding a job on a paper listing at a Newport Beach boutique estate planning firm because the internet barely existed 03:55 Six years at the firm, the certified specialist exam, his boss failing it, and opening his own shop 04:11 Approaching his boss about a partnership after passing the exam — and being told no 05:00 The first hard months, and earning two to three times his salary within a year of going out on his own 06:39 The federal estate tax in 1996 — $600,000 exclusion, 37% starting rate, up to 55% at two million dollars 07:14 Confiscatory — and how the exclusion climbed to fifteen million, which changed the practice 08:00 Developing asset protection as the specialty everybody needs now 09:08 No such thing as a bulletproof plan — and what an asset protection plan actually does #BrianMandel #BrianMandelLaw #TrustcastShow #OrangeCountyEstatePlanning #CaliforniaAssetProtection #CertifiedEstatePlanningSpecialist #CaliforniaPrivateRetirementPlan #QPRTTrust #UnfundedTrust #SouthernCaliforniaEstateAttorney