San Diego Estate Planning Lawyer Blog

In North County are included Vista, Oceanside, Escondido, Carlsbad and other cities. The San Diego Superior Court is located in Vista. The below case did not invove a North County business. Our law firm of Pinkerton, Doppelt & Associates, LLP representes clients in estate planning and family law cases. Please feel free to e mail or call our firm with any legal inquiries.

A business hired architects for a renovation project involving a parking lot, a retaining wall, and a loading dock. The plans, as drawn up by the architects, did not call for a guardrail along the top of the retaining wall. A construction firm completed the project according to the architects' plans. The contractor had not broken ground until a building permit was in hand, and when the work was done a building inspector gave it his blessing with a certificate of occupancy.

When a pedestrian fell from the retaining wall and injured his knee, he sued the contractor for negligently failing to put up a guardrail. The issue for the court was whether the contractor could defend against liability on the ground that it was "just following orders (or plans, in this case)." A state supreme court sided with the contractor. The court reasoned that builders and contractors are justified in counting on the experience and skill of architects and engineers. To subject contractors to liability under the circumstances of this case would be to unfairly require contractors to follow architectural plans at their own risk and, in effect, to ensure the correctness of specifications given to them, not just their own workmanship.

Of course, there are limits on the extent to which contractors can use the plans as a shield from liability. If the results called for by the plans are so obviously dangerous that no competent contractor would follow them, the contractor can be held liable for building according to those defective plans. The individual who fell off of the retaining wall made this argument, but the court concluded that there was not enough evidence that the wall, even though it had no guardrail, was obviously dangerous.

Some residents of Rancho Santa Fe have more than one residence. Our law firm of Pinkerton, Doppelt & Associates, LLP can assist with insuring all of your properties are in your trust. The goal of a revocable living trust is to avoid probate fees and costs as well as insure privacy in the distribution. For tax planning issues, we recommend consulting a Licensed Certified Public Accountant. If you have any questions regarding estate planning or advanced estate planning strategies, please contact our law office for a complimentary consultation by e mail, phone or in person.

If you spend time in any given year in residences in different states, somewhere in your travels you also may want to schedule an appointment with your professional tax advisor. One topic for discussion would be the legal concept of domicile.

In simplest terms, a person's domicile is the place where he or she intends to return after leaving another location. The special significance of where a domicile is established is in tax planning. An individual's domicile determines which state's income, gift, and estate tax laws apply, and in which state or states a person, trust, or estate is taxable. The rules that will govern the administration of an estate also depend on the state of domicile. Inadequate attention to establishing and documenting an intended state of domicile could mean that even the best-laid estate plan might go awry because the laws of a different state could apply. The end result could be an unexpected tax burden that otherwise could have been avoided.

Although the basic definition of "domicile" is simple enough, many different criteria may be taken into account in pinpointing a state of domicile. No one factor is controlling, and the states differ in the criteria that they use. The address included in a person's will may be a good indicator of the person's domicile. A nonexhaustive list of other factors would take into account in what state a person votes, registers an automobile, has a driver's license, keeps important personal property, pays state and local income and personal property taxes, last applied for a passport, and keeps the bulk of his or her money. Contrary to the old saying, you can go home again, and it is a good idea to make sure that you and the government agree on where that home is.