Welcome to the website of Dennis M. Sandoval, A Professional Law Corporation, the premiere estate planning, elder law and tax law firm in the Inland Empire. This website, as well as our firm’s other websites, contain a wealth of information for consumers and financial / health care professionals.

Getting Started

When you call our office to schedule your free initial estate planning for special needs persons consultation, you will be sent a package of information including directions to our office as well as three questionnaires for you to complete and bring with you to the first meeting. Having this information available for the attorney you will be meeting with will make your free consultation much more productive. The first questionnaire requests information about the special needs person. The second questionnaire requests information about the special needs person’s family and who will manage the special needs person’s personal and financial affairs. The third questionnaire requests information about the family’s finances as well as the special needs person’s finances. If you would prefer to download the directions to our office and these questionnaires, click here.

Dennis Joins Special Needs Alliance

Dennis is proud to announce that he has been invited to join the prestigious Special Needs Alliance, an exclusive organization of attorneys that specialize in planning for special needs persons. Through his affiliation with the Special Needs Alliance, Dennis will have the collective wisdom and planning experience of some of the top special needs planning attorneys in the United States available to him and his special needs clients. Dennis is one of only six Special Needs Alliance members in California. The Special Needs Alliance has slightly over one hundred members nationwide. You can get additional information about the Special Needs Alliance by visiting www.specialneedsalliance.org. If you know of a special needs support group that would like to have Dennis give them a presentation on Special Needs Estate Planning, please contact our office. In the past year, Dennis has made informative and entertaining presentations to various Inland Empire and Orange County support groups dealing with individuals with Down Syndrome, Autism, Epilepsy, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Schlerosis, and ALS.

Dennis is Contributing Author of Special Needs Trust Treatise

The California Education of the Bar recently announced the publication of its two-volume treatise entitled Special Needs Trusts: Planning, Drafting and Administration. Dennis is the author of the chapter on Taxation of Special Needs Trusts.

Exceptional Parent Magazine publishes articles by Dennis

Exceptional Parent magazine is one of the premier sources of information for parents of special needs children. Dennis is proud to announce that his article, Taxation of Special Needs Trusts, Part One, is featured in the August 2009 issue of this informational magazine for consumers. Part Two of the article, Taxation of Special Needs Trusts, Part Two, is featured in the September 2009 issue of Exceptional Parent. For more information on subscribing to Exceptional Parent magazine, click here.

Merrill Lynch and Exceptional Parent Magazine Host Online Seminar on Special Needs Planning

Bernard Krooks, J.D., CPA, LL.M., CELA, then-president of the Special Needs Alliance, participated as a panelist on an online seminar on Special Needs Planning co-sponsored by Exceptional Parent Magazine and Merrill Lynch. The other panel participants were Frank Quacinella, CFP,  a Certified Special Needs Advisor (CSNA) and First Vice President at Merrill Lynch and Ellen Ball Nalven, M.Ed, Executive Director of Planned Lifetime Assistance Network, a non-profit disability advocacy organization in New Jersey. Dennis Sandoval is one of only nine attorneys in California who are members of the Special Needs Alliance, a nation-wide non-profit organization of attorneys who specialize in planning for special needs persons and their families. To listen to the online seminar, click here.

Free Brochures

We have free brochures of interest to family with a special need child. You can choose from one or more of the following brochures:

• Nine Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Planning for a Child With Special Needs
• Special Needs Planning
• Brief Guide to Special Needs Trusts
• Estate Planning for Parent of Children With Disabilities
• What Happens When I Turn Eighteen?
• Supplemental Security Income
• Buying A Home For A Person With Disabilities
• Selecting The Trustee Of A Special Needs Trust

We’ll mail you a copy if you click here.

Dennis Completes Term as Member of Board of Directors of National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys

Mr. Sandoval Starts Third Year Serving on Board of Directors of National Elder Law Foundation

Dennis has been named to the Board of Directors of the National Elder Law Foundation. The National Elder Law Foundation is the non-profit organization that administers the Certified Elder Law Attorney or CELA designation. To learn more about NELF, click here.

Dennis Finishes Term as President of Southern California NAELA Chapter

In June, Dennis finished his term as the 2008 / 2009 president of the Southern California Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. To learn more about the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, click here.

Pamela Valencia Elected as Co-Chairperson of Riverside County Bar Association Estate Planning Section

Our associate attorney, Pamela Valencia, has been elected as the 2008 / 2009 Co-Chairperson of the Estate Planning Section of the Riverside California Bar Association. We are very proud of Pamela’s achievement.

Dennis M. Sandoval, A PLC is Admitted as Charter Member of the Life Care Planning Law Firms Association

Our law firm had been admitted as a charter member of the Life Care Planning Law Firms Association. Our law firm is the only law firm in Southern California with a Geriatric Care Coordinator on staff. Karen Griffith, our Geriatric Care Coordinator, works exhaustively to secure the highest of care for our frail elderly and disabled clients. With the growing population of frail elderly and families needing advice regarding in-home care, assisted living and skilled nursing homes, life care planning is a growing area of the law. Click here to learn more about life care planning at our website, www.life-care-planning.com. If you would like more information about life care planning in general as well as the Life Care Planning Law Firms Association, visit www.lcplfa.org.

Visit Our Other Websites

We have several other websites that might be of interest to you:

http://www.protect-your-wealth.com is our estate planning website. There you will find information about all aspects of estate planning, probate and trust administration, and trust and estate litigation. The site also contains some special information about Legacy Wealth Planning, estate planning for persons with large retirement assets and estate planning for Gay; Lesbian, Bi-Sexual and Trans-Gender individuals and couples.

http://www.cal-elder-lawyer.com is our elder law planning website. There you will find information about planning for receipt of Medi-Cal benefits, planning for receipt of Veterans Aid and Attendance benefits, conservatorships, durable powers of attorney for property, advance health care directives, and HIPAA authorization forms.

http://www.life-care-planning.com is our life care planning website. There you will find resources for caregivers, and information about caring for the frail elderly in their homes, in assisted living facilities and RCFEs, and in Skilled Nursing Facilities. You will find out how a life care planning attorney is what you need to relief from those sleepless nights worrying about how you will provide care for your elder loved one.

http://www.fight-the-taxman.com is our website that contains information about dealing with the IRS and California taxing authorities. We can assist you with resolving your income tax, employment tax, sales tax, or property tax problems. We are admitted to practice before the Internal Revenue Service, the California Franchise Tax Board, the California Board of Equalization, and the California Employment Development Department.

http://www.cal-special-needs-trustee.com is our website dealing with our trustee services. The selection of the person or entity you choose to serve as trustee is a very serious matter. This website contains valuable information about the complexity of administering a trust, a discussion of fiduciary duties and the special rules regarding distributions from and administration of a special needs trust. The website contains a discussion of why you might want to consider hiring the professionals at your law firm to serve as the trustee of your trust after you are gone. Our law firm specializes in administering special needs trusts and smaller trusts, estates and conservatorships that banks, trust companies and other professional fiduciaries consider too small or too complex to handle.