Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

It really depends on your particular personal and financial circumstance. If your estate is worth more than $150,000, you should consider a will and a trust. The primary advantage of a trust is that a trust avoids probate whereas if you only had a will the executor would need to probate your estate. Probate is time consuming and costly.

Yes. The will is a pour-over will that names the trust as its beneficiary. It assists and marshalling all the decedent's assets into the trust that are not properly titled in the trust.

Yes. In California virtually every attorney prepares a trust and what is known as a "pour-over" will. The trust is created to ensure your property is distributed to your beneficiaries upon your death (without the need for probate, as well as for other reasons) and must be funded. To fund a trust your property is transferred into the name of the trust and distributed pursuant to the trust. The pour-over will is also created so that if any property, for whatever reason, is not transferred into the trust, the executor of the will can open a probate and obtain a court order transferring the property into the trust. The property then can be administered in accordance with the trust.

I would agree with the other attorneys that a Trust usually benefits a client more than a will. However, as with anything, everyone's needs are different. There are considerations to look at to determine what best works for each client. In cases of estates where there are serious concerns about contests, misappropriation, etc, the client may want a court to referee or watch the beneficiaries and or trustee to ensure his or her wishes are carried out. These concerns, however, are more the exception than the rule. The important thing to remember is that one size does not always fit all.