Vanguard Legal Group is committed to providing our clients with valuable tools and information to help you navigate your estate planning journey.
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Joint Tenancy is a type of shared ownership, where each owner would have undivided interest to the property. This type of ownership creates a right of survivorship. That means when one owner dies, the other absorbs the deceased owner’s interest. On the surface, this seems like a nice solution to replace the need for a Will & Trust. Unfortunately, it also comes with several unforeseen pitfalls.
When someone dies with a Trust, there will be no Probate. However, specific legal requirements must be addressed quickly for the estate to be settled with no delay in distributions. Click here to read what’s involved in the administration of a Trust. At Vanguard, we understand the challenge of losing a loved one. We can take care of the entire administrative process quick and painlessly, simplifying a tricky and time consuming process.
When you pass away without a Trust, and assets (including your home) worth more than $184,500, the entire estate enters a process called probate. In short, this is an arduous, lengthy and costly public court case where your belongings and all your personal information are made public throughout the process and the state of CA determines who gets your stuff. More painfully, there is most often a 6% (or greater) fee associated with the successful culmination of this lengthy process.
Absolutely. A revocable Trust provides you with the freedom and ability to make changes to your trustees or distributions whenever you choose. Once the revocable trust is written, you can change your trust as often or as infrequently as you like. Because the nature of changing a legal document involves redrafting, there will be fees incurred when a change is made to ensure changes are properly executed, leaving you completely protected. These changes tend to be quick and easy, though.
To the contrary, if you want your Trust to be unchangeable, a very small minority of clients choose an irrevocable Trust. These Trusts, once notarized are unable to be changed.
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