Greg Freeze Attorney-at-Law
Greg Freeze is well-versed in many areas of Washington Law, Oregon law and California law. His business background is helpful in understanding complex matters. As an MBA and former officer of a public company, he brings a unique perspective to the practice of law.
As an attorney in Palm Desert, California, Greg Freeze services the nearby areas of Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, Indio, La Quinta, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, or anywhere else around Coachella Valley where there is a need for legal representation.
Mr. Freeze also services the needs of remote clients from Florence, Oregon, and Port Townsend, Washington, specifically, probate, small estate affidavits, and issues from existing and prior clients.
Typical areas of client concern include:
• Ancillary Probate (a service for out-of-state attorneys)
• Business Formation, Incorporation, LLC Formation
• Contracts
• Corporation and Business Law
• Deed Preparation
• Elder Law
• Estate Planning
• Probate
• Real Estate
• Small Estate Affidavits
• Wills & Trusts (e.g., last will and testament, codicil, revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, living will, power of attorney, advanced medical directive, HIPAA waiver, etc.)
Greg Freeze * Small Town Law in the Big City
Practice Areas
Practice Area Details
Ancillary Probate (for out-of-state attorneys)
Ancillary Probate is a service often needed by out-of-state attorneys for non-resident decedents. As an attorney licensed in California, Oregon, and Washington, I am able to perform the "local probate" required to get real property transferred to beneficiaries for a state other than the main probate.
Ancillary Probate is a service often needed by out-of-state attorneys for non-resident decedents. As an attorney licensed in California, Oregon, and Washington, I am able to perform the "local probate" required to get real property transferred to beneficiaries for a state other than the main probate.
Business Formation
Forming a business involves a choice of ownership types. Without making a choice, the business typically defaults to a sole proprietorship or a partnership, depending on the number of owners. For small businesses, the better business practice is to form an LLC (Limited Liability Company) or to incorporate with an S Corporation or a C Corporation. Picking the right business structure is best done with the consultation of an attorney and an accountant.
Contracts
Reviewing and creating contracts is an essential skill needed for a small town attorney. Contracts come in many forms and sizes. Wading through the legal-eze is often best done with the assistance of an attorney.
Corporation and Business Law
For business owners, the aid of an attorney can be required for many aspects of running a business. Beyond formation concerns, running a business requires staying in compliance with governmental laws and regulations. Employee issues can trigger a need for an attorney. Intellectual property topics (i.e., copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and patents) can arise, either as a protection of corporate assets or as a response from a demand letter for infringement.
Deed Preparation (for out-of-state attorneys)
Out-of-state attorneys often find themselves in a pickle when trying to transfer real estate into a new revocable trust made in one state, but with some of the client's real property in another state. For example, an Arizona attorney may have a client that owns property in California, Oregon, or Washington. To avoid the unauthorized practice of law in a state where an attorney is not licensed, the need arises to have a local attorney do the deed preparation for the revocable living trust.
Elder Law
Elder law includes a lot of different areas of law, collected together in one grouping. Typical topic areas include: healthcare, estate planning, guardianship planning, elder abuse issues, financial planning, and just about everything in-between, including working with loved ones during challenging times.
Estate Planning
Estate planning is perhaps my favorite area of practice. An estate plan often involves a revocable living trust (RLT), although depending upon the financial circumstances, this may not be required. When an RLT is used, the estate plan will include a Certificate of Trust and a pour-over will. For non-trust estate plans, there is a traditional will, which may or may not include a testamentary trust. Having a power-of-attorney is important for situations where one becomes unable to handle one's financial affairs. A medical power-of-attorney, or an advance directive, is another important document for situations where one is not able to explain life choices to medical providers.
Sometimes, clients require a special needs trust (or supplemental needs trust), to take care of a loved one, but with a "trustee" making sure that the money is given to the loved one without problems from others (i.e., creditors, not ruining government benefits, etc.).
Not to be forgotten, many clients opt to make special provisions for their pets with a pet trust.
Probate
When a probate is needed (i.e., no trust), the process can be complicated. As an attorney licensed in California, Oregon and Washington, a great deal of my practice has involved probate. The probate process begins with a petition to the court for the appointment of a personal representative. Once appointed, a host of notices go out the door, and a newspaper legal notice is run in a local paper for three successive weeks (except in Oregon, a state that gratefully recognizes that one run is enough). Creditors are put on notice, and the personal representative deals with many of the issues personally, leaving the legal issues for the attorney. When all goes well, there is an eventual distribution to beneficiaries, but a lot can happen along the way.
Real Estate
Many issues can arise from the ownership of real property. The practice of real estate law overlaps at time with other areas of law, including family law, estate planning, probate, and other situations where the creation of a deed is required. Other issues that arise in the area of real estate law include: easements, prescriptive easements, easements by necessity, easements by implication, adverse possession, trespass, encroachments, lot line disputes, trees, fences, surveying issues, water rights, and issues with the city and county. Other planned issues include real estate sales contracts, title paperwork review, for-sale-by-owner documents, and other documents associated with the sale of property.
Small Estate Affidavits
For small estates, there are "small estate affidavits" that are often used, rather than using the full probate process. These are cost effective ways of getting assets transferred to the beneficiaries or heirs, when the estate falls under certain state-by-state asset limits. In California, Probate Code section 13100 covers the requirements of the paperwork including the need to file with the court. In Oregon, filing is cheaper than California for the "Affidavit Claiming Successor..." paperwork, but the court is still involved. In Washington, the court is not involved but the format of the paperwork changed recently, so it is best to get help instead of going it alone.
Wills & Trusts (e.g., last will and testament, codicil, revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, living will, power of attorney, advanced medical directive, HIPAA waiver, etc.)
Wills & Trusts (e.g., last will and testament, codicil, revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, living will, power of attorney, advanced medical directive, HIPAA waiver, etc.)
This topic is a bit of a duplicate for estate planning topic above, but it makes the search engine robots happy to see it again, emphasizing that this is a main area of law for me. For those in Sun City, Palm Desert, this will attract the most new clients largely because as a retirement community, the topic is relevant for most. Because we are in a "small town" of SCPD, I can come to you or you can come to me to get your will or revocable living trust completed or amended.