Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: dad signed his Part A trust to me.

you should retain an attorney to answer your questions and assist with this complex situation.

Re: dad signed his Part A trust to me.

If the deed was signed, the date of recording is irrelevant. You may want to be prepared for a family complaint of undue influence or voidable transfer because, sadly, when money becomes involved it can be thicker than blood or water.

We specialize in trusts, estates and probate and we may be able to assist you with figuring out your situation. I can be reached at the info provided by LawGuru or through one of our firm's websites such as No-Probate.com where you can also learn about our firm and some trust and estate laws.

Namaste,

Scott

Re: dad signed his Part A trust to me.

I have no idea why people in your situation don't consult a lawyer to handle these things. No one can give you advice without reviewing the documents. But, accepting a gift of the house before your Dad passes away can by a tax nightmare, since if you receive it as the result of death and not a lifetime gift, you will be entitled to a new tax basis for the house equal to its value on the date of dad's death. Further, selling the house while he is alive may have adverse consequences in terms of getting Medicaid assistance for your dad's care until his death. Properly handled the residence will not disqualify him from Medicaid, and will allow him to get Medicaid assistance without creating a lien against the house.

See a lawyer.

Re: dad signed his Part A trust to me.

This sounds too specific to give you a useful answer. But I will try to give you some background general answers.

1) When you said "signed over Trust A", I am not quite what you are getting at... Do you mean that your parents had a formula trust which divided their estate at your Mom's death (I am making assumptions here) and that your Dad is the beneficiary/trustee of the survivor trust, which you are referring to as trust A (usually what that term refers to). Then the next question is what did you "sign over to you". Did he make you the beneficiary or Trustee (or both)? If you are trustee, and he is now senile, the trust most likely became irrevocable and you most likely have a number of duties to protect his assets and keep them in trust for him. However, I would need to see the document to give you a full answer.

2) The second part of your question about the house relates back to the first question... was the house in the trust? Did he actually gift it to you, or had you take control for some other reason. Further, was your Dad capable of making these decisions when he "signed the documents"? The answer could go either way, if it was a completed gift, you don't owe any duties, he was lucid and understanding of his decision... then you can probably record the house. Is this the best decision for you and your Father? that depends on a number of factors: 1)How big your Father's estate is; 2)Are their other beneficiaries who are going to challenge it; 3) has your father used his lifetime gift tax exclusion? Etc and etc.

Basically your situation is one that needs to be reviewed. I would either contact the attorney who drafted the trust or another local attorney and have them review the complete situation. This is too dependent on other circumstances and documents to give you a really useful answer.