Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: living trust access while living

Deposits to an account held by a revocable trust can be accessed by you or people you name. They can also be accessed by creditors (with a judgment).

You can protect assets from creditors in other ways--family limited partnerships or LLCs may work for you, or an Alaska or Delaware trust. These are expensive, though, and there may be cheaper ways to get protection, such as increasing your umbrella insurance policy.

Also, remember that the time for planning creditor protection is when you are solvent and do not have creditor problems, because transferring assets (to an irrevocable trust, for example) when you are insolvent or when such a transfer will make you insolvent is a crime.

Re: living trust access while living

Thank you for your posting, and my apologies for the length of time you had to wait for an answer.

If you put your paycheck (or any other assets) into a traditional trust (a revocable living trust), then anyone you specify in the trust can access it, INCLUDING CREDITORS.

To make it safe from creditors, it has to be an IRREVOCABLE trust, meaning that only the beneficiaries (someone other than yourself or your spouse) can access it, and you cannot change the trust in the future to change this.

Thanks again, and if you have any other questions or need more information - or if you feel you need legal representation, please feel free to call me (toll free) at 1-877-568-2977, or via email.

Re: living trust access while living

you cannot have your paycheck made out to the trust but you can deposit it into a trust account and have anyone you want access it.