Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
When a married couple in California sets up a trust and together they initially designate the beneficiaries for after both of them die, then after one of them dies (the wife), is the remaining spouse (the husband) allowed to disregard what their initial beneficiary designations that were made with the wife (his wife's wishes as to who the beneficaries are), and then change the beneficiaries altogether? Isn't the husband obligated to leave those beneficiaries in the trust that both he and his wife first agreed to include as beneficiaries for after they both died?
2 Answers from Attorneys
It depends on the terms of the trust document.
Mr. Cusak is entirely right. It all depends on the trust structure and documentation. Most commonly for tax purposes the trust would have split into two trusts upon the death of one of the trustors, resulting in one trust remaining revocable, which the survivor could change, and one becoming irrevocable, which the survivor could not in most cases. There is no way to tell if they did that, or any other structure, without a thorough review of all the relevant documents.
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