Living trust document preparation

Many people create a living trust as part of their estate planning in order to avoid the probate process. A living trust can also be used to name your beneficiaries and/or someone to take control of your assets and property should you become incapacitated. 

When done properly, your living trust can guarantee a quick distribution of your assets, save your estate from paying unnecessary taxes, and keep your wishes private after your death. Before having your living trust prepared, you will need to spend some time on document preparation, gathering all of the necessary information.

First, make a list of all of your assets which includes everything you own, from your house and car and other tangibles to stocks, bonds, and other intangibles. This will give you a much better idea of what you want to include in your trust and how you would like it to be distributed after your death. 

Once you’ve compiled a list of assets, have all the paperwork organized and ready to present to your estate planning attorney.  This would include bank statements, titles, deeds, stock certificates, life insurance policies, and other assets that you’re going to use to “fund” your trust.

The hard stuff

Then, it’s time to tackle some of the harder jobs to do before creating your living trust. You’re going to have to name beneficiaries — family members, friends, and/or organizations such as charities — that will receive the assets in the trust upon your death. Assure that your attorney is aware of any named beneficiaries on insurance policies, retirement, and savings accounts to avoid any legal conflicts after your death.

Name yourself as the trustee of your living trust in order to retain control over your assets while alive. However, you’ll also need to choose a successor trustee — someone you trust — to handle your affairs as outlined in the trust should you become incapacitated or upon your death.

If you have minor children, you’ll need to designate a guardian for them as well as deciding who will manage any money that they may receive.  While you cannot designate a guardian through your trust, you can include this information in a “pour-over will”, a legal vehicle which provides for the distribution of any assets not held in the trust at the time of your death.

Done the easy way

At the Law Office of David W. Foley, San Diego estate planning attorney, we can help you set up a living trust by mail. We provide you with a questionnaire to fill out which then provides us with details of your assets and their approximate value.

Once we have those details, we may ask you for additional paperwork such as deeds, tax bills, property titles, etc. When we have all your information, our living trust document preparers will go to work and create your living trust document.  We make the process fast and easy for you.

Contact our office to begin the process.

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