Living trusts
Keep your home and yourwishes out of court.
A revocable living trust lets you stay fully in charge during your life, then gives your successor trustee a clearer path after you are gone.
How a living trust works
You transfer the home and accounts you choose into the trust, while you remain the trustee and stay in control. You can change the trust as your life changes.
After your death, the successor trustee you named can follow the instructions in the trust and distribute assets it holds. That process happens without a probate court case for those assets.
- You remain in control as trustee
- You choose a successor trustee and beneficiaries
- Your plan can include a pour-over will as a backup
- Claire prepares one new San Luis Obispo County home deed and records it for you in the Living Trust Package
The follow-through
Funding: the step that makes a trust work
A trust only keeps out of court what is actually in it. In the Living Trust Package, we do that part for you.
- Teo prepares a new deed putting your San Luis Obispo County home into the trust and records it, with recording fees included.
- You get a letter for each bank and brokerage explaining how to retitle the account, plus a certification of trust to show them.
- Teo calls you 60 days after signing to confirm everything made it in.
Why many California homeowners choose a trust
California probate is public and often takes 12 to 18 months. Fees are set by state law based on the estate’s value. On a $900,000 estate, the attorney fee is more than $20,000, and the executor fee can be the same again.
A trust is not one-size-fits-all, but for many homeowners it is a practical way to make a difficult time easier on the people they love.
See what the Living Trust Package includes“I was the successor trustee for my father. Because his trust was set up right, there was no court at all.”Renee P., Atascadero