Estate Planning Basics

• Why Make a Plan?
• Wills
• Living Trusts
• Planning for Incapacity

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Estate Planning Basics: Wills

Wills are what you need to appoint guardians for your children and arrange to manage their property for them until they’re able to do so on their own. Making a will is a critical first step in your plan.

But wills must go through the probate process, a lengthy and expensive court procedure in which a judge determines that your will is valid and supervises the distribution of your property. In most California counties, it can take 6 to 18 months and cost up to 6% of your gross estate (that includes the fair market value of your house when you die, even if the bank really owns most of it).

If you have a house worth $750,000 and $250,000 of other assets, probate will cost a minimum of $23,000 and could easily be double that amount. You can avoid the expense and delay of probate by establishing a Living Trust.

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