Why We Feel All California Home Owners Should Have a Trust
As a homeowner, protecting the value of your property and ensuring that the equity can be passed along to your heirs in the future may be important to you. Therefore, you should consider putting the house into a trust as part of your financial planning strategy.
Regardless of your age or financial situation, we recommend that you set up a living trust. This legal document includes essential information such as your Durable Power of Attorney and Advanced Healthcare Directive. Additionally, you can choose where your assets go if something happens to you in the future.
How Real Estate Is Handled in California
As a California homeowner, your name is most likely on the deed for the house. However, you are still the home’s legal owner when you pass away. Creating a trust is a legal tool that passes the property to the living family member/s or friend/s who you would like to own the property after you are gone.
If you do not have a trust in place, the real estate is categorized as “intestate,” and the California government takes over at this point.
With a revocable trust, you have complete control over the properties and assets while you are alive. You can sell, transfer, or change the assets as you desire. But once you pass away, there are specific instructions for how the property is managed. At that point, the trustee takes over to ensure the assets are handled according to the instructions in the trust.
Benefits of a Trust
The most notable benefit of creating a trust is that you have peace of mind knowing that you are prepared for anything that might happen in the future – expected and unexpected life circumstances. In addition, this process protects your estate so that everything is distributed according to your wishes.
Creating a comprehensive financial plan is an essential step to help your money stay in the family. Of course, you want the assets to go to your spouse and children.
A living trust also offers the benefit of privacy since trusts are not recorded in the public record. Without a trust, the assets go through probate and are handled by the court, which means the family financial matters go into the public record.
At Bulman Wealth Group, we partner with an estate attorney to help you set up a trust to protect your real estate holdings and other assets. Additionally, our team is here to help with comprehensive financial planning services. Contact us today to learn more about strategies to prepare for the future.
