Many people who want to prepare a comprehensive estate plan have doubts about their beliefs and will to live. Even when such people create living trusts, wills will be an integral part of good inheritance planning.
Will a living trust override the requirements of a will? That is one of the questions that plagues the minds of most people trying to prepare a comprehensive estate plan. Such a will is indispensable because it provides an important reserve for property that is not transferred to oneself as a trustee by the owner. Acquiring property shortly before death may result in the owner forgetting to transfer ownership to the trust. Because the properties will not pass the guardianship document requirements, they cannot be accepted as part of the trust.
The precision of the will is evident from the fact that one can easily include some clause in it which will give rise to any property in its scope which will not leave that property to any particular person or entity. The problem with not having a will is that property that is not transferred to a living trust or other will may only be passed on to next of kin as determined under applicable land law in Orange County or Southern California as the case may be. .
Other ways to transfer assets to heirs free of a will include several ways. It is possible to transfer property within a few weeks or at most months after the owner’s death. Making a gift right before death or adding a pay-on-death clause with a bank account, having a residence in a lease along with the right to survive are some of the processes adopted. Also methods such as life insurance policies, in-trust-for bank accounts known as Totten Accounts and Keogh accounts, individual retirement accounts and retirement inheritance accounts are used for such inheritance protection by experienced trust planning attorneys.
However the Living Trust is the only one that can be used on all types of properties and also offers extensive planning flexibility. Alternative beneficiaries can be identified if the primary beneficiary nominated for the inheritance suffers an early death. An experienced real estate planning attorney can give you the best advice on such matters.