The core document for most families here. Avoids probate, keeps the terms private, and can be amended as circumstances change.
A revocable living trust holds your property during your life and passes it afterwards without a court proceeding. You remain the trustee, you can change it whenever you like, and nothing about it is filed with anyone.
The advantage over a will alone is what it avoids. Property held in a trust does not go through probate, which in California is public, runs on a statutory fee schedule, and commonly takes a year or more.
What this involves
- Drafting the trust and its schedule of assets
- Naming a successor trustee and telling them what that means
- Recording the deed that puts the house inside it
- Retitling accounts so the trust is the owner
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Also in estate planning
- Wills, powers of attorney and directives
- Funding the trust
- Blended families and second marriages
- Planning for minor children
Who does this work
