Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
the trustee is also the beneficiary if he buys the house from the trust does he have the same closing costs as someone else
2 Answers from Attorneys
As you have already been told, it depends on whether the trustee is also the sole beneficiary or not. If the trustee is the sole beneficiary, there should be no closing costs, since there should be no closing. If the trustee is not the sole beneficiary, closing costs must be allocated as recommended by a qualified trusts attorney and agreed by all beneficiaries.
Are there other beneficiaries? If the trustee is the only beneficiary, there is no need to purchase the property as it is his/hers to begin with.
If there are more than one beneficiary, the trustee can purchase "AS IS" from the trust for an amount that all of the beneficiaries agree to. If title history is not an issue, most closing costs can be eliminated. The only real cost should be the recording fee and the beneficiary purchasing the property should pay that small cost.