Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: Can i write a will to my children so my husband cannot have my property when

You can leave all of your separate property to your children - however, assuming you are a California resident, it's likely that a lot of your property is community property, and your husband has a 1/2 interest in the community property, and you cannot give his 1/2 of the property to anyone - it's his.

Property is considered "separate" or "community" depending on how you acquired it, or how you acquired the money that was used to purchase it. Generally speaking, money that you earn during your marriage is community property, and things that are purchased with that money is community property. Money that you received as a gift or as an inheritance during your marriage, or that you had before you married, is your separate property, and things that you buy using that money will be separate property. Identifying property as separate or community is tricky and you'd probably do better to sit down with an estate planning or a divorce attorney to figure that sort of thing out. Also, it's possible that your husband would, after your death, claim that the property was community, not separate property, so if that's a serious concern you should think about making/keeping records to show the source of money and property.

Also, you may want to name an adult to have control of the property while your children are still minors.

Re: Can i write a will to my children so my husband cannot have my property when

I agree entirely with Attorney Broiles, however, you can create an irrevocable trust instrument that restricts use of the property and ultimately is given to your children. This can all be determined in the drafting of the trust.

HOWEVER...Much of this depends on how willing he is to sign documents for the benefit of his children. If you approach him that way, it may persuade him to agree.

Please feel free to read some more about trusts and the Probate process on our firm's site at www.No-Probate.com

Additionally, please feel free to call our office for additional assistance at 626-578-0708.

Scott