Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

First, you should at the very least have an attorney review everything you are doing because it could be much more costly to clean up an incorrectly set up estate plan than it would have cost for an attorney to establish it.

What you were told about the house is correct. The title to the house should be formally transferred to you as trustee of your trust by recording a deed. If you purchase a new house, then you take title to the new house in the name of your trust. In addition, you do specifically list the house on a Schedule A which can be updated as your assets change. If the real property is not formally titled in the trust upon your death, then something has to be filed with the court to get an order formally transferring it or it will have to go through probate to be tranferred to your trust.

The titling of your car is less important unless it is an expensive car because it will pour into your trust through your will if the total of your assets not titled in your trust is below the probate limit and does not include real property.

A trust can have property added to it, as time goes on, without the necessity of redrafting the entire trust agreement. I would urge you not to do estate planning on your own, or with a kit, and have an estate planning attorney prepare the trust and a pour over will. I've found that these things are more expensive in the long run when they are done with kits or without legal advice.