Estate Planning

Should I Place My Trust Book in a Safe Deposit Box? Should I Give A Copy of My Trust to The Successor Trustee? How do People Know I have a Trust? I always get questions revolving around the idea of how do people know I have a trust, and where should I store it and isn’t it filed with the government? TRUSTS ARE PRIVATE DOCUMENTS AND NOT REGISTERED ANYWHERE Trusts...

SHORT ANSWER The short answer is no. California Probate Code Section 6112 says that the signature as a witness who is also a beneficiary is not valid, but it does not invalidate the Will itself as long as there are enough remaining valid witness signatures. A Will requires two witnesses. Many practitioners have three witnesses sign just in case one of them turns out to be...

Transferring a Manufactured home also called a mobile home to a revocable trust is more complicated that simply transferring real property. The following is a step by step guide on how that is done. Step One – What Type Determine whether your home is titled to (1) the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and subject to yearly registration renewal, or (2) its titled to the...

A standard Will and Trust Package always includes a “Nomination of Guardian” if you have minor children. It can be a little confusing to understand the difference between a “Guardian” and a “Successor Trustee” because while they are usually the same person, they can be different people. Whether they are the same or different individuals, the roles have different legal rights and responsibilities. SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE DEFINED A...

What is Portability? Please note that this trust is not intended to achieve any specific tax benefits. FEDERAL ESTATE TAX EXEMPTION AMOUNTS Most people do not have to worry about estate tax issues. New tax legislation that took effect on January 1, 2018 increased the federal estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to $11,200,000 for an individual and $22,400,000 for married couples. Those amounts increase each year...