California living trust laws govern how residents can create and manage trusts to hold their assets, potentially bypassing probate-a court-supervised process for transferring property after death.

Trusts are described in multiple ways, including: living or testamentary, revocable or irrevocable and grantor or non-grantor. These terms are not always mutually exclusive. A trust can be living, ...

When planning your estate, you should understand different trust options available, such as testamentary trusts and living trusts. A testamentary trust is created through a will and only becomes ...

Revocable living trusts are often the core estate planning vehicle for the basic estate plan. Generally, revocable living trusts are touted as an incredibly versatile estate planning tool, which ...

Dear Liz: Is naming a beneficiary for a nonretirement, “payable on death” account as effective as putting the account in a living trust? It seems easier than doing all the paperwork each time I open ...

Putting everything you own into a living trust can feel like the safest way to help your kids skip probate, but some assets ...

The probate process can be lengthy and costly. A living trust allows you to set stipulations before beneficiaries can receive an inheritance. Living trusts are revocable, meaning they can be changed ...

Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and ...

Dear Liz: My goal is to avoid probate and allow simplified access for my heir, who is also my executor. I have no family. I have chosen payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts instead of ...

Estate planning provides for the smooth handling of your assets after death. However, only around 32% of American adults have a will, indicating that most people haven’t taken the appropriate steps to ...

These days, it’s not unusual for a client to use a trust instead of a will for their estate planning. Trusts offer a range of benefits, including asset protection, privacy, and efficient distribution ...

Living trusts don't have to go through the probate process. The details of a living trust are not a part of the public record. Living trusts are also known as revocable trusts because they can be ...