Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: Trusts

For the average person, drafting a trust and all the related documents is far to difficult to do. I would strongly advise having an attorney draft the necessary documents for you.

I can of course assist you with this if you so desire.

Sincerely,

Kai H. Wessels, Esq.

(877-Wessesls)

Re: Trusts

Honestly, you will not be able to do it correctly. There are simply too many issues and the risk does not justify saving the $1000 or so that a well qualified attorney will charge. You can easily make a mistake disposing of your real property, transfer incorrectly, miss importatnt duties, or make improper designations. Remember, your estate is likely worth 6 or 7 figures and you are effectively transferring the entire estate around probate -- you might save few dollars doing it yourself now, but you may lose 50% of your estate to probate, or even worse, force unnecessary litigation upon your loved ones to reconcile subtle ambiguities that will eat up the estate. No, when it comes to something this important, you should hire a professional. My resume available upon request or at www.ChristopherBrainard.com.

Re: Trusts

The simple answer to your question is "Yes, you can do it by yourself." However, you can also be your own doctor, accountant, dentist, and interior designer if you want. Professionals are people we go to when we want something done well and with some degree of skill the average person doesn't have. I go to a dentist to work on my teeth although I suppose I can go to the garage and grab some tools and start doing it myself. The point is this: You can do anything on your own, but there is a reason people go to qualified attorneys for assistance. I believe that if you visit a good lawyer who prepares these sorts of documents, they will explain to you why it's not the kind of thing you want to do on your own. I can't tell you how many people I represent in post-death litigation involving poorly written estate planning documents obtained via software or at a "trust mill" or "on-line" facility.

Re: Trusts

Of course yu can do it on your own...but then you run the risk of having terms and distributions that you do not want. It can even cause a tie up in property that is detrimental to you.

There are plenty of sites and paralegals who offer "discount" trusts and wills...BE VERY WARY! These are NOT attorneys and CAN NOT advise you as to the legal ramifications of various clauses and conditions in the trust documents or of your state's probate laws.

ALWAYS better to at least have an attorney REVIEW your documents before you sign them and make them official. Our office currently charges $1500 for a single person trust package and $2500 for a married couple. If you think about it, the $1500 or $2500 you spend now can save you and your family, literally, thousands of dollars later.

Please take a moment to read some information about trusts in general on our firm's website; www.No-Probate.com.

Feel free to contact me directly if you would like any further assistance.

Scott Linden