When you are a parent of young children, it can be hard to set aside time to plan for their future. At California Trusts Online, we try to make estate planning convenient and affordable so that parents of young children can focus on their children’s daily needs and their long-term needs.

The two most pressing questions that parents face are

            1. Who will take care of my children if I cannot?

            2. Where will my money (and other assets) go if I die?

In California, you are free to give your estate to whomever you want to, but how do you set up your distribution plan if you do not have any children? The choice of who inherits from you is very personal and should reflect your values. Here are some options to consider.

With the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade last week, many people are concerned that other fundamental privacy rights are in jeopardy. If you are in a same-sex marriage and you are worried about the Supreme Court overturning Obergefell v. Hodges, or if your spouse is a different color than you and you are concerned about the Supreme Court overturning Loving v. Virginia, you may not be able to protect all of your marital rights through the use of estate planning documents, but you can protect some of them.

Most people want to take care of their loved ones regardless of how much money they may have. Those who are wealthier than others often use Trusts to distribute money to their loved ones in a way that:

1. Avoids the expense, hassle and time of probate;
2. Maintains their privacy; and
3. Helps them avoid paying certain taxes.

Only you can decide if a Trust is right for you, but here are a few of the most common reasons people find a Trust helpful.

Most transfers (sales) of real estate trigger reassessment of the property by the county assessor, which usually means an increase in property taxes. Will transferring your house into your Trust trigger a reassessment and then higher property taxes?

You purchased a new house, and you want to make sure that it goes to your loved ones instead of “to the state” when you die. What is the best way to do that?

Do you know what happens to your possessions after your death when you do not have a valid estate plan? If you don’t have an estate plan when you die, the State of California has one for you. It’s called intestacy, and it is governed by a series of laws in the California Probate Code.

When planning your estate, there are several costs to consider. These costs include the dollar cost that you pay for your estate planning, the dollar cost that your Beneficiaries will pay on your death, the time your Beneficiaries will have to wait to receive their inheritance and the degree of control you have over what happens with your estate (who will manage the process and who will receive the benefit.)

This article examines the cost of estate planning for an estate of $500,000.

You know that only assets transferred into your Trust are governed by your Trust, but when you have a variety of bank accounts, retirement accounts, real property, business interests, etc., you may wonder what you should transfer into your Trust.