Why do many people resist estate planning? I think that there are several reasons:

1.  Estate planning forces us to confront our own mortality.

2.  Some people are uncomfortable talking about their private lives with attorneys.

3.  Indecision and overwhelm.

4.  Expense and reluctance to deal with attorneys.

However, if you let these emotional hurdles stop you from creating an estate plan, you may miss out on the emotional benefits of estate planning.

Here are a few common questions about notaries:

Where Can I Find a Notary Public? Can I Notarize My Documents Online? Can a Notary Public Come to Me? Can a Notary Public Witness My Will?

1.  Not Making an Estate Plan. If you have not created an estate plan, the State of California has one for you. It’s called intestacy, and it may not reflect your wishes and will require your loved ones to open a probate case in court.

We at California Trusts Online believe that you are who you are and you love whom you love. We serve underserved communities—those who do not need complex estate planning, those who do not have the resources for a traditional attorney-client relationship, and those who may not fit the traditional ideas of gender and relationships. We welcome the LGBTQ+ communities. We strive to include all forms of relationships and concepts of family.

For the vast majority of clients, a complete estate plan includes four documents: a Revocable Living Trust, a Pourover Will, a Financial Power of Attorney and an Advance Health Care Directive. Each document covers a different set of concerns, different assets, and different effective time periods. The two basic set of concerns are financial and health care. The two basic time periods they cover is either before or after death, and the two basic types of assets are Trust and non-Trust assets.

Your documents are not effective until you sign them. Whether you print your own documents or have California Trusts Online print and mail them to you, you are responsible for signing your documents. There are different requirements for signing different documents which are set out in this post and in the table below.