WILL & LIVING TRUST
Here are our top 5 advantages of a Living Trust:
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Flexibility - A Trust is revocable and amendable
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Control - Your assets remain safely under your full control.
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Parental Advantages - Allows parents to designate a guardian for minor children, keeping them out of the foster care system if the parents were to pass.
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Tax Advantages - A Living Trust offers significant savings on Capital Gains Tax.
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Avoids Conservatorships - If a person becomes ill or incapacitated, their Successor Trustee can manage their affairs without court intervention.
Our Complete Living Trust Package Includes:
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Revocable Living Trust
A revocable living trust is a legal document that allows its creator (or settlor/trustor) to transfer property or assets into the trust in order to conveniently and effectively distribute those assets upon the death of the settlor. While the settlor is still alive, he/she has the flexibility of amending the trust such as changing beneficiaries or the manner in which certain assets are distributed. The settlor may at his/her discretion revoke the trust and create a new trust. Some people may use a will as the primary vehicle to distribute their assets after death. However, disbursements of assets through a will after death requires court supervision approval and generally will be significantly more time consuming and costly for the estate.
Depending on the circumstances of our clients, we typically do recommend having a revocable trust as the central organizing instrument in the estate planning process to properly control and manage the assets as well as distribute the assets appropriately upon death.
Last Will and Testament
A will is a written legal instrument (usually much shorter and simpler than a trust) that is used to distribute the estate after a person's death. A standalone will may be created to distribute the estate upon death without the need for a trust since a will tend to be easier and cheaper to create. However, a trust is more favored than a will due to its flexibility to control and manage assets as well as for its ease of distribution of the estate after death--normally bypassing probate. There are different types of wills, however, when using a revocable living trust as the main vehicle to manage and distribute the estate upon death, a Pour-Over Will is usually created to work alongside the trust and is created primarily to protect against a possible failure to transfer later-acquired assets into the trust. Without a Pour-Over Will, assets that are not put into the trust are likely to be treated by the court as if you had died without a will and thus may have to go through probate.
Power of Attorney
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A Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows you to appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf. It can be limited in both scope and duration. The power of attorney can be limited in its scope, that is, only granted to the attorney-in-fact (or agent) to do one specific thing (i.e. purchasing that specific property). On the other hand, a general power of attorney gives broad authorizations to the attorney-in-fact (or agent) such as the ability to make medical, legal, financial, or business decisions. Most Power of Attorney documents are either Springing and Non-Springing. A springing Power of Attorney only becomes effective unless and until the principal becomes incapacitated while a non-springing Power of Attorney is effective immediately upon signing. A Power of Attorney may be revoked at any time while the principal is still alive.
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Advance Healthcare Directive
An Advance Health Care Directive, which is a power of attorney for health care, is a legal document granting a person the legal authority to make medical decisions on your behalf when you are unable to do so. The advance health care directive directs the health care agent to make medical decisions in accordance to your health care preferences including the types of special treatment you want or don't want at the end of life, your desire for diagnostic testing, surgical procedures, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and organ donation.
Contrary to popular beliefs, a spouse cannot make medical/healthcare decisions for the other incapacitated spouse without an advance health care directive in California. Thus, it is important to have a fully executed advance health care directive in place to ensure your wishes regarding the types of medical treatments you want and your end-of life choices are respected.
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HIPAA Waivers
HIPAA waivers authorize medical offices and hospitals to disclose or release the health and medical records to a designated person or entity. In most cases, protected health information (PHI) cannot be released without the HIPAA waivers
Final Dispositions
A final disposition document details a person's preferences for their funeral arrangements as well as their preferences between burial or cremation.