Andrew Marc Meinzer

Andrew M. Meinzer is dedicated to understanding and satisfying the unique goals of each individual client. Mr. Meinzer provides high quality personalized legal services.

Mr. Meinzer cares for his clients. He serves his clients with compassion and dedication. At the same time, he represents his clients’ interests with determination and zeal.

Mr. Meinzer is accessible. He offers evening and weekend appointments. He even makes house calls.

WILLS & TRUSTS, ESTATE PLANNING, AND POWERS OF ATTORNEY

A good Estate Plan secures a high quality of life for an individual and then it provides for a maximum transfer of assets to chosen beneficiaries on death. A Trust usually can achieve these results in the most cost-effective manner by (1) minimizing estate taxes and (2) avoiding the time and expense of a Probate. For some people, however, a Will may work better.

For parents of a minor child, a good Estate Plan provides for care of the child after the parents’ deaths. For example, a Trust allows the parents to specify how their assets are to be applied to the benefit of the child after the deaths of the parents. Further, Nominations of Guardians allow the parents to designate Guardians to care for the child after the parents’ deaths.

A good Estate Plan also ensures that financial management and health care decisions can be made for an individual if he or she loses capacity to make such decisions. Together, a Trust and Powers of Attorney achieve this goal.

Powers of Attorney are documents through which an individual nominates someone as an agent to make financial management and healthcare decisions in case the individual loses capacity to make such decisions for himself or herself. Every adult should have a Power of Attorney for Financial Management and a Power of Attorney for Health Care (also known as an Advance Health Care Directive). Without these documents, a Conservatorship may be required. See Elder Law & Conservatorships below.

Mr. Meinzer provides personalized services to satisfy each individual client’s Estate Planning objectives. He assists each client with determining whether a Trust, a Will, or another Estate Planning vehicle is best for satisfying the client’s particular goals.

Mr. Meinzer’s Estate Plans include personalized Powers of Attorney that allow each client to nominate an agent of his or her choice to make decisions for the client in the event that the client loses capacity to do so. These Powers of Attorney are specific regarding the powers granted to the agent, and Mr. Meinzer custom-tailors specific Powers of Attorney to satisfy the needs and desires of each client.

PROBATES & DECEDENTS’ ESTATES

A Probate is necessary for many people who die without a Trust. A Probate is a court-supervised administration of a decedent’s estate. A Probate concludes with the court issuing an order to distribute the decedent’s assets to his or her heirs or beneficiaries.

As discussed above, a good Estate Plan may avoid the necessity of a Probate. For example, a decedent with a Trust may have his or her assets distributed to beneficiaries through a Trust Administration process, which usually is less expensive and less time-consuming than a Probate and maintains privacy.

Similarly, a Probate may not be necessary for a decedent with a small estate. Rather, if certain requirements are satisfied, assets may be transferred to the decedent’s heirs or beneficiaries based on a signed affidavit instead of a court order.

If you are dealing with the court system in relation to a probate or estate-related matter, or if you think that you will be in the near future, it is important that you hire an attorney who knows the full particulars of California probate law and the probate court. With sensitivity and care, Mr. Meinzer guides clients through the Probate and the Trust Administration processes. For small estates, he drafts affidavits to effect transfers of decedents’ assets to heirs or beneficiaries without the necessity of Probate.

ELDER LAW & CONSERVATORSHIPS

Elder Law services are designed to improve the lives of elderly people as they age. For example, although forgetfulness is a common issue (especially as a person ages), it can be a real problem when it seriously interferes with a person’s ability to handle personal affairs. Dementia, especially of the Alzheimer’s type, and other illnesses and disabilities can result in a person lacking legal capacity to care for himself or herself. Such an incapacitated person may require a Conservatorship, which is a court-supervised proceeding to provide decision-making and care for an incapacitated person, much like a Guardianship is to a minor child. As discussed above, however, a good Estate Plan with Powers of Attorney can avoid the necessity of a Conservatorship.

With compassion and sensitivity, Mr. Meinzer counsels regarding use of planning opportunities available to overcome the unique issues faced by his elderly clients and other clients with special needs. Such planning includes drafting Revocable Trusts, Special Needs Trusts, and Powers of Attorney; conducting Medi-Cal planning; and obtaining Long Term Care Insurance and Reverse Mortgages.

BIOGRAPHY OF ANDREW M. MEINZER

Andrew M. Meinzer is an attorney practicing Estate Planning, Trust and Will drafting, Trust Administration, Probate, Conservatorship, Medi-Cal Planning, Special Needs Planning, and Elder Law, in Torrance, California. He was admitted to practice law in 1999 by the State Bar of California. He was also admitted in 1999 to practice before the United States District Courts for the Central, Northern, Eastern, and Southern Districts of California.

Mr. Meinzer is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Los Angeles Superior Court Probate Volunteer Panel, Los Angeles County Bar Association, and South Bay Bar Association. Further, Mr. Meinzer is a member of the KEEP-SAFE Coalition, ~the South Bay Estate Planning Council, and the El Camino College, Division of Business, Paralegal Studies Advisory Committee.

Mr. Meinzer graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland, and he graduated in 1999 with a Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern University School of Law. During law school, Mr. Meinzer served as a Notes and Comments Editor for the Southwestern University Law Review and was a brief writer for the Moot Court honors program. He also served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Michael Farrell of the Los Angeles Superior Court, Law and Motion Department.

Before attending law school, Mr. Meinzer served in the United States Navy as an audio visual director for the White House Communications Agency. At the White House Communications Agency, he planned and executed presidential and vice-presidential appearances at the White House and worldwide for the George H. W. Bush and William J. Clinton administrations.