USA – CALIFORNIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jennifer Jordan McCall, Ashley Huh and Matthew Perotti, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
8.3 Elder Law California’s Department of Aging has set forth the Master Plan for Aging (MPA) initiative. One of the goals is entitled “Affording Aging”. California is cur - rently analysing the impact of job loss on older work - ers’ employment, retirement, and health. Additionally, the state has implemented CalSavers, a state spon - sored retirement plan, to help employees prepare for the future. MPA has also invested in programmes to address issues of hunger and homelessness amongst aging adults. The presence of an initiative displays that financial preparation for longer lives is topical and will continue to be addressed. 9. Planning for Non-Traditional Families 9.1 Children For purposes of intestate succession, a parent-child relationship exists if that child is: • a natural child; or • an adopted child. Adopted Children Adoption severs the relationship between an adopted person and their natural parents unless: • the natural parent and adopted person lived together as parent and child, or the natural parent was married to or cohabitating with the other natu - ral parent at the time the person was conceived and died before the person’s birth; and • the adoption was by the spouse of either natural parents or after the death of either natural parents. Children Born Out of Wedlock The marital status of one’s parents does not affect the child’s classification. A child born out of wedlock is considered a natural child. Posthumously Conceived Children These children are eligible for any of the deceased parent’s property if: • the father, in a signed and dated writing, makes the specified birth of the child clear; and
• the conceived child is in utero within two years after the father’s death. Surrogacy In California, intended parents may establish their legal parental rights before the birth of the child with - out formal adoption proceedings. Upon birth of the child, the intended parents are encouraged to secure a parentage order from the court. This establishes the legal parental rights and terminates rights of the sur - rogate. 9.2 Same-Sex Marriage Same-sex marriage is recognised in California. Cur - rently, legislators in California are seeking to include the right to marriage equality in the California Con - stitution. Domestic partners may file a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the Secretary of the State. Registered domestic partners are afforded the same rights, protections, and benefits as a married couple in the State of California. Federal tax law limits charitable contributions of cash to a public charity to 60% of the donor’s federal adjusted gross income (AGI). California limits con - tributions of cash to a public charity to 50% of the donor’s federal AGI. The federal and California limit on non-cash contributions, such as stocks, to a pub - lic charity is 30% of AGI. The federal and California limit on contributions of cash to a private founda - tion is 30% of AGI. The federal and California limit on noncash contributions to a private foundation is 20% of AGI. If a person has insufficient income in a given year to maximise the contribution, the person has five additional years to apply any unused portion of the deduction as a carry-forward. Deductions for charitable giving is designed to encourage individuals to support goals which benefit the public good. Given California’s high state income tax and the concentra - tion of wealthy individuals there, charitable giving is an important component of estate planning for wealthy Californians. 10. Charitable Planning 10.1 Charitable Giving
620 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook