Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

is a trust part of the estate?

I am the executor of my grandmother estate who just died recently. In her will, she names one single person as the beneficiary of all her estate. She had previously established a trust with a bank that names 4 persons as the beneficiaries of the trust. The will has been written and notorized after the trust (approxiamately 3 years later). My question is: is the trust part of the estate, in other words will the beneficiary named in the will also get the money from the trust or is it a totally separate entity and the 4 persons named as beneficiaries will get the money from the trust while the person named in the will will receive the money from the will. Is a trust a separate will in itself?


Asked on 4/06/02, 10:56 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys
Chris Johnson Christopher B. Johnson, Attorney at Law

Re: is a trust part of the estate?

The trust is separate from the will--property in the trust will likely be distributed according to the trust, and property outside the trust will be distributed by will. That said, get the advice of an estate planning/probate attorney before you do anything--this is a potential mine field and you want to make sure you distribute things according to the law, or else you'll personally be on the hook for any mistakes.

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Answered on 4/11/02, 1:05 am
Ken Koenen Koenen & Tokunaga, P.C.

Re: is a trust part of the estate?

The trust is not part of the estate, unless it can be shown that she revoked the trust at some time. Otherwise, the trust and anything in it is separate from her estate, and must be distributed according to the terms of the trust.

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Answered on 4/07/02, 3:46 pm
Robert Miller Robert L. Miller & Associates, A Law Corporation

Re: is a trust part of the estate?

Thanks for your inquiry. Normally, a trust, once set up, is not part of the estate that is created once a will is admitted to probate. A trust, which is created before probate even starts, is a separate legal entity which exists independently from the probate action. The "estate" does not include a trust.

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Answered on 4/08/02, 2:00 pm


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