I can help you prepare your Revocable Living Trust, along with all the supporting documents, including your pour-over will, powers of attorney, advanced healthcare directives, transfer of real estate into your trust, and notarization of documents as required. Your living trust package will be a professionally prepared, complete estate plan!
Remember: It's never too soon to set up your living trust, but someday it will be too late.
Please call to set up an appointment to get started.
Harry Feiler 916-704-2525 email: harry@docsanddeeds.com
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Following are some quotes from an interview with Suzi Orman that you might find very informative:
WHY YOU NEED A REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST: an interview with Suzi Orman:
Q:What are the must-have documents people need to ensure that their estates don't wind up mired in probate?
A: The main "main document" that everybody needs, every single person needs -- and I know that other people have different opinions about this, but this is my opinion -- is a revocable living trust. In fact, the less money you have, the more you need a trust.
A will is simply a document that states where your assets are to go upon your death. But, in most states, unless you have a very small estate or have no real estate as part of your estate, a will makes it mandatory to go through the court procedure known as probate. And the reason is it takes a judge to first authenticate your will, to verify that in fact it is the real thing and, second, to transfer your assets, your real estate, from your name over to the beneficiary you're leaving it to.
All wills have to go through probate, and to go through probate, you have court costs, an executor of the will and usually a lawyer that takes the will down to the probate courts.
Q: What benefits and cost savings does the revocable living trust offer to beneficiaries?
A: OK, let's say you and your wife or life partner own a home together as joint-tenants with right of survivorship. Let's say that one of you then dies and the survivor ends up the sole owner of this house. What if you have kids and you want to then pass this house down to your children? And your question is should you do it via a will or should you do it via a trust?
Let's say we're in the state of California. Let's say that this house is worth $200,000. And let's say that it had 100 percent financing and the parent owed $200,000 on the house. That sole surviving parent then dies and the will says that that property is to go to the kids. Well, in the state of California, probate is based on the fair market value of the house, as it is in all states, and the mandatory statutory fees in the state of California are $10,300, even though there is not one penny of equity in this house. So, for the kids to inherit this house via a will, it is going to cost them $10,300. And if they don't have the money to pay the lawyer -- because that money is for the executor and the lawyer -- the house can be sold to pay the legal fees.
Now, if that parent had set up a revocable living trust while he or she was alive, if he or she took the steps to transfer title from his or her name and into the title of the trust held for his or her benefit while they were alive and for the children's benefit after they had died, that house would then pass down free of probate and with no probate costs -- and it would immediately happen.
And in the state of California, you need to know that probate can go from six months to two years, with statutory fees and probate costs on top of that. That's the difference. And in states where the fees are not set by statute, the lawyers are free to charge whatever they can get -- which often results in even higher fees.
Q: Why is a revocable living trust important for people who don't have much money?
A: If you want to avoid probate, the easiest way to set up an estate is with a living revocable trust. And the less money you have, in my opinion, the more you need a living revocable trust, because where does a person who doesn't have a lot of money come up with the money to pay for court costs, probate fees, executor costs, lawyer costs? Where do they get that? They don't have it.
So, if you happen to have assets such as a life insurance policy -- life insurance does not go through probate because it has a designated beneficiary -- or an IRA or retirement account with a designated beneficiary, or savings accounts that are made payable-on-death accounts, or stock accounts that are set up in the same way, none of these have to go through probate.
Real estate is an asset that usually always has to go through probate unless it's set up as a revocable living trust or held as a joint-tenancy with right of survivorship.
Q: Even so, there are people who don't recommend having a revocable living trust. What's wrong with their thinking?
A: The reporters who say that these are not necessary really do not, in my opinion, have a clue what they are talking about.
Today, most mortgages require two incomes to be able to pay the mortgage. Many people today have 100 percent financing and many people are now seeing increases in their payments because they're dealing with adjustable-rate mortgages. And let's say you just bought a house, and let's say you then get a call that your spouse/life partner was in a serious car accident and they are totally incapacitated. They didn't die, but they cannot work anymore, they don't even recognize you anymore. They're alive, but they are no longer generating an income.
A will, in this situation, will not help you at all because they're not dead; a life insurance policy will not help you at all in this situation because they're not dead.
And you need to then sell the property. Can you sell a home that you own with joint-tenancy with right of survivorship in that situation? No. And the reason you cannot is because the person you own it with is incapacitated. When you go to sell the property, it takes two signatures to be able to sell it if you own it in both names. So, you're then going to have to go and have your spouse/life-partner declared incompetent, become appointed by the court as their conservator -- that's the case here in California and it's $10,000 to do that -- and good luck from that point on.
If you simply had a living revocable trust that had an incapacity clause in it, it totally takes that out of the equation.
Joint-tenancy with right of survivorship doesn't help that; a will doesn't help that; most financial powers-of-attorney don't help that because they become null and void the day there's an incapacity unless things are set up correctly.
Q: Is there any final advice or point you'd most want to highlight or emphasize to our readers?
A: For single women, a revocable living trust with an incapacity clause is so important. Actuarially, women live so much longer than men ... so, when a woman is all alone and she later gets a stroke or becomes seriously ill, who's going to pay her bills for her? Who's going to write her checks for her? That's why this type of trust is so very important.
Think about this situation: You have absolutely no money whatsoever, you work for a place that maybe offers you a half a million dollar life insurance policy or maybe you took out a million dollar term life insurance policy on your own. And you and your wife are killed in a car crash together. Your children are minors; they cannot inherit money. Where does your money go?
If you've left your children as the main beneficiaries after your spouse/life-partner on your life insurance policy, or there is no beneficiary left after your spouse/life-partner, it then all goes to the estate, it then has to go through probate. So now we have to go through probate with this life insurance, because you don't have a named beneficiary.
And if you name a child under the age of 18 as the beneficiary of any of these types of arrangements, and you die, the company will not pay out to a minor. They will require the court to establish a guardianship -- the fees for a guardianship can easily exceed $10,000 -- and put all the money in a blocked account at a bank with no access to the funds without a court order. Each year you have to go back and account to the court, and only when the child is 18 do they get all the money.
If you have a trust, then the trustee can immediately receive the proceeds of the policy or account, use it for the benefit of the children and not have to hand it over until they are older and more mature. And doesn't that make a lot more sense?
Quoted from: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/financial_literacy/Nov07_revocable_living_trusts_a1.asp
AND, here's some additional information:
"The Living Trust:
"Has it's roots in English law upon which our legal system was founded. We have the constitutional right to create a Living Trust for our heirs.
Is one of the most versatile estate preservation tools available. It can:
* Quoted from Henry W. Abts III, author of The Living Trust, The Failproof way to pass along your estate to your heirs without lawyers, courts, or the probate system. http://www.amazon.com/Living-Trust-Henry-W-Abts/dp/0809230313
* price subject to change, please call for full details and current pricing for your living trust package.
Remember: It's never too soon to set up your living trust, but someday it will be too late.
Please call to set up an appointment to get started.
Harry Feiler 916-704-2525 email: harry@docsanddeeds.com
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Following are some quotes from an interview with Suzi Orman that you might find very informative:
WHY YOU NEED A REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST: an interview with Suzi Orman:
Q:What are the must-have documents people need to ensure that their estates don't wind up mired in probate?
A: The main "main document" that everybody needs, every single person needs -- and I know that other people have different opinions about this, but this is my opinion -- is a revocable living trust. In fact, the less money you have, the more you need a trust.
A will is simply a document that states where your assets are to go upon your death. But, in most states, unless you have a very small estate or have no real estate as part of your estate, a will makes it mandatory to go through the court procedure known as probate. And the reason is it takes a judge to first authenticate your will, to verify that in fact it is the real thing and, second, to transfer your assets, your real estate, from your name over to the beneficiary you're leaving it to.
All wills have to go through probate, and to go through probate, you have court costs, an executor of the will and usually a lawyer that takes the will down to the probate courts.
Q: What benefits and cost savings does the revocable living trust offer to beneficiaries?
A: OK, let's say you and your wife or life partner own a home together as joint-tenants with right of survivorship. Let's say that one of you then dies and the survivor ends up the sole owner of this house. What if you have kids and you want to then pass this house down to your children? And your question is should you do it via a will or should you do it via a trust?
Let's say we're in the state of California. Let's say that this house is worth $200,000. And let's say that it had 100 percent financing and the parent owed $200,000 on the house. That sole surviving parent then dies and the will says that that property is to go to the kids. Well, in the state of California, probate is based on the fair market value of the house, as it is in all states, and the mandatory statutory fees in the state of California are $10,300, even though there is not one penny of equity in this house. So, for the kids to inherit this house via a will, it is going to cost them $10,300. And if they don't have the money to pay the lawyer -- because that money is for the executor and the lawyer -- the house can be sold to pay the legal fees.
Now, if that parent had set up a revocable living trust while he or she was alive, if he or she took the steps to transfer title from his or her name and into the title of the trust held for his or her benefit while they were alive and for the children's benefit after they had died, that house would then pass down free of probate and with no probate costs -- and it would immediately happen.
And in the state of California, you need to know that probate can go from six months to two years, with statutory fees and probate costs on top of that. That's the difference. And in states where the fees are not set by statute, the lawyers are free to charge whatever they can get -- which often results in even higher fees.
Q: Why is a revocable living trust important for people who don't have much money?
A: If you want to avoid probate, the easiest way to set up an estate is with a living revocable trust. And the less money you have, in my opinion, the more you need a living revocable trust, because where does a person who doesn't have a lot of money come up with the money to pay for court costs, probate fees, executor costs, lawyer costs? Where do they get that? They don't have it.
So, if you happen to have assets such as a life insurance policy -- life insurance does not go through probate because it has a designated beneficiary -- or an IRA or retirement account with a designated beneficiary, or savings accounts that are made payable-on-death accounts, or stock accounts that are set up in the same way, none of these have to go through probate.
Real estate is an asset that usually always has to go through probate unless it's set up as a revocable living trust or held as a joint-tenancy with right of survivorship.
Q: Even so, there are people who don't recommend having a revocable living trust. What's wrong with their thinking?
A: The reporters who say that these are not necessary really do not, in my opinion, have a clue what they are talking about.
Today, most mortgages require two incomes to be able to pay the mortgage. Many people today have 100 percent financing and many people are now seeing increases in their payments because they're dealing with adjustable-rate mortgages. And let's say you just bought a house, and let's say you then get a call that your spouse/life partner was in a serious car accident and they are totally incapacitated. They didn't die, but they cannot work anymore, they don't even recognize you anymore. They're alive, but they are no longer generating an income.
A will, in this situation, will not help you at all because they're not dead; a life insurance policy will not help you at all in this situation because they're not dead.
And you need to then sell the property. Can you sell a home that you own with joint-tenancy with right of survivorship in that situation? No. And the reason you cannot is because the person you own it with is incapacitated. When you go to sell the property, it takes two signatures to be able to sell it if you own it in both names. So, you're then going to have to go and have your spouse/life-partner declared incompetent, become appointed by the court as their conservator -- that's the case here in California and it's $10,000 to do that -- and good luck from that point on.
If you simply had a living revocable trust that had an incapacity clause in it, it totally takes that out of the equation.
Joint-tenancy with right of survivorship doesn't help that; a will doesn't help that; most financial powers-of-attorney don't help that because they become null and void the day there's an incapacity unless things are set up correctly.
Q: Is there any final advice or point you'd most want to highlight or emphasize to our readers?
A: For single women, a revocable living trust with an incapacity clause is so important. Actuarially, women live so much longer than men ... so, when a woman is all alone and she later gets a stroke or becomes seriously ill, who's going to pay her bills for her? Who's going to write her checks for her? That's why this type of trust is so very important.
Think about this situation: You have absolutely no money whatsoever, you work for a place that maybe offers you a half a million dollar life insurance policy or maybe you took out a million dollar term life insurance policy on your own. And you and your wife are killed in a car crash together. Your children are minors; they cannot inherit money. Where does your money go?
If you've left your children as the main beneficiaries after your spouse/life-partner on your life insurance policy, or there is no beneficiary left after your spouse/life-partner, it then all goes to the estate, it then has to go through probate. So now we have to go through probate with this life insurance, because you don't have a named beneficiary.
And if you name a child under the age of 18 as the beneficiary of any of these types of arrangements, and you die, the company will not pay out to a minor. They will require the court to establish a guardianship -- the fees for a guardianship can easily exceed $10,000 -- and put all the money in a blocked account at a bank with no access to the funds without a court order. Each year you have to go back and account to the court, and only when the child is 18 do they get all the money.
If you have a trust, then the trustee can immediately receive the proceeds of the policy or account, use it for the benefit of the children and not have to hand it over until they are older and more mature. And doesn't that make a lot more sense?
Quoted from: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/financial_literacy/Nov07_revocable_living_trusts_a1.asp
AND, here's some additional information:
"The Living Trust:
"Has it's roots in English law upon which our legal system was founded. We have the constitutional right to create a Living Trust for our heirs.
Is one of the most versatile estate preservation tools available. It can:
- avoid the high cost and lengthy process of probate
- upon death, allow quick distribution of trust assets to your family
- preserve your estate from unnecessary federal estate tax
- provide for the support and education of minor children, or grandchildren
- insure you retain maximum control over your property and estate
- avoid conservatorship or guardianship if you become incompetent
- maintain the continued privacy of your affairs
- can be changed by you at any time
* Quoted from Henry W. Abts III, author of The Living Trust, The Failproof way to pass along your estate to your heirs without lawyers, courts, or the probate system. http://www.amazon.com/Living-Trust-Henry-W-Abts/dp/0809230313
* price subject to change, please call for full details and current pricing for your living trust package.