Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: My Benificiary

An inheritance is considered separate property so if you leave your daughter an inheritance, it would be considered her separate property. The complication arises because many married couples commingle their assets, so that the ability to trace it as separate property down the road or in a divorce may be lost. In a divorce, the laws regarding the ability to trace and recover separate property assets, and the amount recoverable once they have been commingled are fairly complex. If it is a concern to either or both of you, you should discuss it now and be sure that you have a plan to keep her inheritance separate. You may contact me at (714) 921-3216 if you have additional questions. Hope this helps. Sincerely, Joan Bennett

Re: My Benificiary

Yes, depending on how the estate plan is structured (if there is one) and what your daughter does with your assets once she receives them. You should see an estate planning attorney to create something that will accomplish your goals; it is probably easier than you think.

Re: My Beneficiary

No, the inheritance is her separate property, unless she changes title to it (keeping it in a joint account, or buying a house with title in the name of husband and wife). There are exceptions, but she should keep it separate for it to remain separate property.

You could also leave it to her in trust, with her entitled to the income, or perhaps rights to use the trust property, but by keeping it in trust he wouldn't have access to it.

Re: My Benificiary

Howdy:

Sorry to bombard you with yet another reply, but I'm not sure how clear the earlier answers were.

The answer is a very firm maybe.

As stated ealier, an inheritance would initially be your daughter's separate property. So long as she was careful in her management of that property, it would remain hers, and he wouldn't be entitled to it in case of a divorce.

However, the time she spends working her separate property could be considered a community asset.

The risk she'll run is changing the character of the property from separate to community. That's called transmutation. If she were to do that, then he'd be entitled to a split.

Depending on how large your estate is ... or will be, ... the safest course could be to set up a trust. She could not be the trustee and sole beneficiary, but if you have grandkids, they could be the beneficiaries and she could manage the trust.

You could set this up so she gets the income ... or some of it ... and the principal grows for the runts.

If you'd want her to be the beneficiary, then you'd have to find someone else ... possibly a bank ... to be trustee.

I hope this was a bit more clear than other answers.

rkr