Welcome to the California Trusts and Estates blog. I’m an attorney in San Diego specializing in Estate Planning, Estate Administration and Probates. I plan to post current information on this blog regarding these topics for my clients and for the general public.
One of the first questions potential estate planning clients ask me is whether or not it would be worthwhile to set up a living trust. In general, a trust is recommended when an individual owns real property and/or over $100,000 in personal property. This is because, in the State of California, if a person dies owning real property titled in his/her name alone or personal property worth over $100,000, a probate is required in order to transfer that property to the heirs. Many married couples own their real property in joint tenancy or community property with right to survivorship. This form of ownership avoids probate on the real property at the death of the first spouse, but probate will be required at the death of the second spouse.
Not only is a trust useful for avoiding probate at death, it allows a relatively simple way to transfer control over finances to a trusted family member in case of disability. For instance, if an elderly woman develops dementia and does not have her assets in a trust, her children may be forced to petition the court for a conservatorship in order to manage her assets on her behalf.
All in all, living trusts are a great estate planning tool – but there are also plenty of clients who don’t need one. A qualified estate planning attorney will be able to tell you whether or not a trust should be included in your estate plan.
