David Stanley Wight Law Blog

If you own a home or have assets over $100,000 then you should have a trust. In California, property over $100,000 will need to go through probate upon the passing of the surviving spouse. If one has a trust in place then you avoid the cost of probate and the time it takes to administer the estate. For example, an estate of $850,000 dollars would cost at least $16,000 in probate fees and could take years to finalize. On the other hand, a trust would cost between $1,000 and $2,500 and can be... Read More

SIMPLE PROBATE AVOIDANCE TRUST

                 A simple probate avoidance trust leaves everything to the Surviving Spouse in trust (“Survivor’s Trust”) or everything to the beneficiaries if no spouse.  The Surviving Spouse can amend or revoke this trust or change beneficiaries.  The advantage of this trust is that it avoids probate and it is simple to administer after the... Read More

A/DISCLAIMER TRUST

The A/Disclaimer Trust is just like the A/B Trust, with the only difference being the Surviving Spouseis not required to create the B Trust, but has the option of creating the B Trust based on the size of the estate and federal estate taxes. After the first spouses away, the Surviving Spouse would decide whether to create the B trust based on the size of the estate... Read More