What is a Revocable Living Trust
A revocable living trust is a powerful and flexible estate planning tool for California residents, offering significant advantages over a traditional will. Under California law, a living trust is a legal arrangement where you, as the grantor or trust-maker, transfer assets like real estate, bank accounts, and investments into a trust. This structure allows you to maintain full control over your property as the trustee while you are alive, with the added benefit of a built-in plan for incapacity or death.
Why Choose a Revocable Living Trust in California?
Probate Avoidance
In California, probate can be a costly, time-consuming, and public process. Assets held in a properly funded revocable living trust bypass probate entirely. This means your beneficiaries can receive their inheritance much faster and your estate avoids expensive court and attorney fees, which in California are based on the gross value of the estate.
Privacy and Control
Unlike a will, which becomes a public record once submitted to probate court, a living trust is a private document. This ensures that the details of your assets, debts, and who receives your property remain confidential. You also retain full control: you can add or remove assets, change beneficiaries, or even revoke the trust entirely as long as you are mentally competent. This flexibility is crucial as your family or financial circumstances change.
Incapacity Planning
If you become incapacitated and unable to manage your own financial affairs, a living trust provides a seamless transition. A successor trustee, whom you have designated in the trust, can immediately step in to manage your assets without the need for a court-appointed conservatorship. This avoids a potentially expensive, intrusive, and time-consuming court process.
Key Takeaways
A living trust is a cornerstone of a comprehensive estate plan, best complemented by a pour-over will, durable power of attorney, and an advance healthcare directive.
Sacramento Estate Planning, Tax Planning and Business Attorney.
I’m John Goralka, a Sacramento Estate Planning, Tax Planning and Business Attorney at the Goralka Law Firm, P.C. If you have an estate, tax or business situation needing legal help, contact our team for experienced and friendly advice. You can contact us at 916-440-8036. Alternatively, you can use our convenient online contact form here on our website. We listen, and you can have your questions answered, your case evaluated, and explore your options for getting the legal help you need.
There are almost 200,000 attorneys in the state of California, and fewer than 100 of those attorneys are State Bar Specialists in Estate Planning, Trusts and Probate and State Bar Specialists in Taxation. I am one of the few attorneys with both critical specializations. I passed the California CPA examination and am a former income tax auditor and hearing officer. I am also recognized as a top attorney in the United States by US News and World Reports and by Best Lawyers and hold an AV rating from Martindale which is the premiere rating organization for attorneys. The AV rating is the highest possible rating for legal experience and for legal ethics.
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