Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Recently I inherited some land and stock accounts from my father�s estate. I live in California a community property state and would like to know what is necessary for me to do in order to keep this property as separate property.
My plan is the following:
1. Keep a statement with my dads name on it showing the original property
2. Set up a new account in only my name and move all the stock into the new account.
3. Have the land moved into my name.
4. Keep account statements from the newly stock accounts and never mix funds into this account.
5. Keep copies of the will and muniment of title showing I inherited my fathers assets.
A) Are there any other precautions other, I should take in order to keep this property legally as separate property in the event of divorce?
B) For the new account I opened and deposited the inheritance into, if this account has future capital gains will the capital gains be viewed as separate property or community property in the event of divorce?
C) If future capital gains are viewed as separate property is there anything I need to do differently from a tax purpose to keep the gains separate. Normally these would be included on my joint tax return. But my fear is an attorney could argue that this resulted in mixing funds so the inheritance is community property. What is the best way to handle this?
Your assistance is much appreciated.
Thank you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Your plan is pretty well thought out and going in the right direction to maintain the separate property character of the property from the community property you refer to. However obtain the services of an estate planning lawyer to help you establish a trust so as to move your separate property into the trust; this should be a separate trust in your name only, not a marital trust that would encompass community property you and your wife have acquired. This will be money well spent and keep you out of future litigation arising from a divorce claim that any increase in value of the assets is community property and is one half belonging to the other party..
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