The entire estate plan is built around the concept of the Living Trust. The idea is that your assets are legally transferred from you to your Living Trust. You are the trustee of the Living Trust. Therefore you still have complete control over your assets. You can still buy, sell, borrow against your property just as you have before only now the title is held as Your Name as trustee of Your Family Trust. It's really that simple. You just have to make sure you do it right and have everything done according to the legal requirements. That's where I come in. I help you every step of the way. I help you establish the trust, maintain the trust, transfer your assets into the trust, and update the trust when changes in the law occur.

One of the main reasons why people want to establish a Living trust is to make sure their property is correctly distributed upon their passing. Whether you want your assets to go to your children or to a charity, I can help you make the proper plans. There are also special planning tools for beneficiaries that are disabled and on government benefits, beneficiaries that do not spend their money frugally, and for children of blended families where one parent wants to make sure that children from a prior marriage take as intended.

Another huge benefit of establishing a Living Trust is that your estate bypasses probate. You definitely want to avoid probate. If you die without a will and without a trust, your estate goes directly through probate. If you have a will only, your estate goes directly through probate. Only with a Living Trust and some other special arrangements can your assets pass to your loved ones free from probate.

Why avoid probate? It is a very difficult, long, and expensive process. That's the last thing you want to put your loved ones through after you pass. In probate, you definitely need a lawyer. The lawyer takes a percentage fee of your estate. The filing fees alone cost several hundreds of dollars. You may need a court appointed appraiser who takes a percentage of your estate. It is basically a lawsuit and the Judge will make a decision regarding your assets. Probate may take a year to go through. It has taken as much as ten years in some cases. It may result in the loss of 10% or more of your estate. These assets could have gone to your children or to charity with proper planning.

Once your Living Trust is established, it is important to "fund" the trust. This means that you must change the title of your assets into the name of the trust. For example, if your name is Bob Smith, you would change the title to Bob Smith Trustee of the Smith Family Trust. I help you with this process. Included with the cost of establishing a Living Trust is the transfer of the deed to you house into the name of the trust.

One important thing to remember is that this is a Revocable Living Trust. That means that you can change it at any time. You maintain the ability to change, amend, or even cancel the trust at any time. This means you are not locked into anything once you create the trust. Things change in life, and it is important to keep your trust updated as the law changes as well. I will notify you of any changes in the law which requires our attention.

Please call me with any questions you may have at (925) 200-3936.