Living Trust Attorney

Our firm has prepared thousands of revocable living trust packages over the last decade alone. We can prepare your family’s as well. Our revocable living trust package includes:

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1. Initial 30 minute consultation with an attorney,

2. Revocable living trust agreement,

3. Schedule of assets and assignment of personal property into the trust

4. Pour over will(s)

5. Durable power(s) of attorney for finances

6. Advance Health Care Directive(s)

7. Certification of Trust

8. Funding and Successor Trustee’s instructions

9. All necessary notary signatures

10. A trust transfer Deed to transfer real property into the trust.
     

We offer a 25% discount for clients who inform us they found our firm on the internet so please be sure and mention this.

Our firm will offer a complimentary 30 minute consultation. The consultation includes a review of your current estate plan [if any] as well as a review of an estate planning questionnaire which the client fills out. There is no obligation and the consultation is confidential whether or not you hire our firm.

There may be other trusts included within the revocable living trust.

 

One of these is a grandchild’s trust if the grandchild is a minor. This allows for the distribution to be limited to either a certain percentage at a certain age [for example: 25% at age 18; 25% at age 21; 25% at age 25 and the remaining 25% at age 30] or any other restrictions you may want to place on the distributions given your individual facts and circumstances. There may also be a special needs trust for a child or grandchild, again, depending on your circumstances. This is a complicated are of the law and we urge you to consult with a qualified, experienced and licensed attorney.

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The legal goal of a revocable living trust is to avoid probate fees and costs as well as allow for privacy in the distribution of the estate. Probate fees currently in all Court Houses in which probate cases are heard are 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000 and 2% of every $100,000 after that. The calculation is made on the gross value of the estate and not the net value. As such, for every home owner in California, the revocable living trust will be much more economical than the probate process.

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There are times when individuals may require services which are not included in the flat fee cost of the revocable living trust. These may include video-taping the execution of the revocable living trust to document capacity and voluntariness. These may also include home or hospital visits. Many of our revocable living trusts are “couples” trusts and these may require a mandatory “split” of the trust into two sub-trusts after one of the spouses is deceased. Our firm can assist with these and other issues which arise.

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Do not wait until the last minute to have your revocable living trust prepared. The normal time period for the preparation of the documents is within twenty one to twenty eight days however it can take longer.

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It is less expensive to come to our office than for an out of office visit. Our office can also advise on planning for long term care, probate administration, conservatorship, guardianship, business succession planning, estate planning for pets, same sex estate planning, charitable giving, family limited partnerships, qualified personal residence trusts and irrevocable trusts.

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HOW TO GET STARTED:

To get started, you can download the estate planning questionnaire below that fits your situation. Most of the basic information we will need to prepare your estate planning documents will be listed on the questionnaire. You can fill in the form on the screen and print it on your printer. Then, simply call our office to schedule a consultation. Please fill in as much of the questionnaire as possible and be sure to bring it with you to the first meeting. We will confirm your appointment time by mail or email with a cover letter confirming prices and some additional information on the planning process.

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During your first meeting we will explain how the estate planning process works and discuss your specific situation and needs. Once we have the information we need and all your questions are answered, a second appointment is set to complete the document part of the process. At this second appointment you will be signing your documents and the attorney will explain what steps need to be taken from there.

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That’s it. The process is fairly straight forward, not very time consuming, and it is not expensive. Once you’re done, you will wonder why you waited so long. Best of all, there is a real peace of mind knowing that, should something happen to you, you have taken care of things to protect your loved ones.

 

Both forms are in Adobe Acrobat Format (PDF) and will self-open when you click on them. The forms are designed so that you may fill in the answers on the screen and then print out the completed form on your printer.

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            SINGLE PERSON QUESTIONNAIRE                                           MARRIED COUPLES QUESTIONNAIRE