I want to tell you why you are incorrect today if you think that your parent’s trust document is recorded somewhere. Trusts are private documents. They don’t get recorded anywhere. They don’t get recorded with the County Recorder’s Office. They’re not kept with some government agency. A lot of times the attorneys who draft them […]
I want to talk about why you are wrong today. If you think that the trust is going to pay for your attorney’s fees, you are mistaken, unfortunately. If you’re the beneficiary of a trust, you may think that the trust should have to pay for the beneficiary’s lawyer. That’s not going to happen. I […]
What are some of the reasons why a parent might disinherit a child? A lot of times we think that a parent will disinherit a child because a child was bad: the child was abusive to the parent, or became a drug addict, or acted irresponsibly somehow. That certainly can be the basis for a […]
One of the most frustrating things we hear from beneficiaries of trusts is hey, I’m a beneficiary, I’ve reached out to the trustee and they refuse to tell me anything. In fact, they’re just downright hostile to me. They won’t return my phone calls. They say everything must be done by letters. I send them […]
What does it take to qualify as a beneficiary? If you have been named as a beneficiary in a trust or will in California, and you’re supposed to receive a gift out of that trust or will, it really doesn’t take much to qualify to be a beneficiary. Once you are named as a beneficiary, […]
Let’s say that you find out that you’re a beneficiary of a $3 million trust. There are three beneficiaries. You’re supposed to get a million dollars at the end of this. It’s a very happy, exciting day for you. You call the trustee’s attorney, and you say to the trustee’s attorney, “Hey, I have some questions for […]
Let’s say that you just found out that you’re the beneficiary of a $3 million trust fund, and there are a total of three beneficiaries. Each beneficiary stands to receive $1 million dollars. That is an exciting day that doesn’t happen to many people. You wonder when you are going to receive the $1 million. […]
What happens when a Beneficiary Kills the Trust Creator, the Settlor? As you can imagine, that’s not a good thing. So you shouldn’t go around killing people. I shouldn’t have to tell you that. However, if you have a beneficiary who is found to have murdered the settlor, under California law, they are precluded from […]
California trust law creates a hierarchy among beneficiaries. That means not all beneficiaries are equal. Some beneficiaries outrank others. Some beneficiaries have better rights than other beneficiaries. Current Beneficiaries The starting point is current beneficiaries, people who are named now who are supposed to be receiving something out of the trust. That’s what we call a […]
Beneficiary deeds are a fairly new creation, under California law. A beneficiary transfer deed allows you to file something with the County Recorder’s Office that says, in effect, “After my death, I want my property to pass to my stated beneficiary.” It’s kind of like a beneficiary designation on a life insurance policy or a […]
