So what is in an estate plan anyway? This post will discuss two important documents that you have likely heard of but may not be completely familiar with: wills and trusts.

Will –The most important goals of a will are to leave property to beneficiaries, and to nominate guardians for your children.  In addition, you will nominate an executor to carry out your intentions. Each person will get their own will, even if they have a joint trust with a spouse. So, if you and your spouse have a joint trust, you each will have a separate will.


If you have an estate worth less than $150,000, typically you will just need a will.   There are some drawback to having only a will. Even if you have a will, your loved ones may find themselves navigating through the probate process, if you have more than $150,00 in assets.  Get more information on what Probate Court is in the blog post “What Is Probate Court And Why Do I Want To Avoid It?”  You can also check out my free resource library if you want to use a quick  form offered by the California State Bar - Free Estate Planning Resources.

In addition, as opposed to a trust, which is a private document, a will will be filed in probate court once the testator (will creator) passes.  Thus, since a will will become public record, a will might not be the best choice if you highly value privacy. 
 
Trust – A trust is a document whose main purpose is to avoid probate.  By properly transferring your assets into the trust, there is no need to go through the probate process.  It is a private document that does not need to be filed with the court (unlike a will).  You transfer your biggest assets into the trust, allowing a personal representative to manage the assets in the event of death or incapacitation. 

Think of a trust like a recipe.  It lists all the ingredients, or your assets, and tells the personal representative what to do with them.  It is highly customizable to your own needs, and can be set up to handle a variety of assets.  As opposed to a will, a trust is better suited for homeowners, blended families, families with special needs children, and families with Assisted Reproductive Technology (or “ART”) issues.  Wills are not designed to handle these complexities.  

Please contact me for a complimentary consultation to discuss your options with regard to this aspect of estate planning.

I really believe in the importance of estate planning.  Whether you hire my firm, or not, I hope you will put something in place.  In fact, I believe in this so much that I have created a living library of free estate planning resources.  I will update it from time to time when I come across a free resource of value worth sharing. 

Please note that I have not analyzed these documents and that they may not be sufficient to meet your estate planning goals.
Drop a line if you are interested in learning more about how I can assist your estate planning.  
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Enjoy!

- Click here to access the California State Bar's Free Will form.
- Click here to access the California State Bar’s Publication – “Do I Need A Estate Planning?”  Spoiler alert – you do!
- Click here to access the California Attorney General's  Advanced Healthcare Directive form. 

Please contact me for a complimentary consultation to discuss planning your estate. 

Through an estate plan, you can avoid guardianship proceedings.  Through a will, you can nominate a friend or relative to be the guardian responsible for your minor-children. 

If a guardian is not selected by a child’s parents, the court will decide. 

My mentor told me a cautionary story which demonstrates the importance of this aspect of estate planning.  A family was involved in an auto accident.  A child was the only survivor.  The relatives of the parents battled over who would be the best guardians for the children in court. The process lasted for years.  This battle was probably quite stressful for all parties involved, including the children. 

​As parents we want the best for our kids!  It is simply critical that we put our intentions into a will for which trusted friend or relative should be responsible for our children if we cannot be. 

Please contact me for a complimentary consultation to discuss your options with regard to this aspect of estate planning.
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​Via an estate plan, you can avoid probate, which will save your loved ones from paying probate fees and potentially years of probate proceedings. 

Probate Court is the court responsible for overseeing the administration of a person’s estate when that person did not have an estate plan.  
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Probate is avoided with an estate plan, and in particular with a trust, because became assets that are transferred to a trust before a person’s death are not part of the person’s probate estate.  Thus, they are not subject to probate proceedings. 

Why does it matter?  The bottom line is that it if properly funded a trust will save your loved ones time and money.

Probate fees in California can be substantial, and include statutory fees as well as extraordinary fees that are commonly granted by the probate court.   Having an estate plan in place will likely save significant administrative costs.  In addition, a typical trust often can be administered in a few months; however, a typical California probate estate lasts a minimum of a year to 18 months.

The statutory probate fees are as follows:

​California Statutory Attorney Fees for Probate
• 4% of the first $100,000 of the gross value of the probate estate.
• 3% of the next $100,000.
• 2% of the next $800,000.
• 1% of the next $9 million.
• .5% of the next $15 million.

In California, if you own a home, worth around $1,000,000, a number that is certainly not unheard of in this state the probate fees to probate just that asset would be as follows:

4% of the first $100,000 $4,000,000
3% of the next $100,000 $3,000.00
2% of the next $800,000 $16,000.00
Total Probate Fees: $23,000.00

These fees do not cover other administrative costs such as other attorney’s fees and executor fees.  Those can be expensive as well.  Thus, it’s easy to see how this can add up extremely quickly.  You can save your loved ones the costs, both time-wise and financially, of probate by avoiding it via creating an estate plan. 

Please contact me for a complimentary consultation to discuss your options with regard to this aspect of estate planning.
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