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 Hi, my name is Paul Horn. I am a California Estate Planning Specialist.

In my office all we do is Living Trusts and Probate.

We don't do immigration law, we don't do divorces, criminal law,

this is all we do- this is our specialty.

I'm a State Bar California certified specialist in this area of the law.

so

Today, before we get into talking about Estate Planning,

just a little about myself- in addition to being

an Estate Planning attorney I'm also a CPA

This is a picture of my family

This is my wife, my 4 year old son, my 6 year old daughter.

Alright, so let's get into Estate Planning

So this cartoon drawing that you see in front of you

is the receptionist saying to you, "Hey,

there's death and taxes- they're here to see you.

Taxes wants to come in first,

followed by death."

Death, unfortunately, is 100% undefeated. Right?

We're all heading that way.

So Estate Planning is important

So the goal of Estate Planning- the goal of your trust

ought to be to give what you have, to whom you want,

the way you want to give it to them,

and when you want it.

When you create your Trust you're going to be putting all your assets

in the Trust

You want to have a mechanism where if you have dementia, Alzheimer's,

that all these assets are used for your benefit first to take care of you.

and also,

once you pass away how do we protect your minor children?

How do we protect the surviving spouse?

We want to make sure that

there is no litigation

in distributing your assets to your children

we will make sure that your values, your ideas,

are passed onto your children and grandchildren

and to maximize the assets that goes to your loved ones

and protect it from the creditors as well

A good Estate Plan, a comprehensive Estate Plan ought to have

the Trust

So the Trust is what avoids Probate

your Trust is what allows the house to go to your children

step-up basis

when they sell the house it's tax-free; that's the Trust

There will be something called a Pour-Over will in here that says,

"All my assets go to my Trust for my children"

this binder- this comprehensive Estate Planning binder

ought to have an Advance Health Care directive

a Durable Power of Attorney, a Living Will

a HIPAA authorization

a Personal Property Memorandum

an assignment of all your personal property to the Trust

A Certificate of Trust and your Trust ID Card

So your Trust,

you're going to have a Trust ID Card that identifies what the name of your Trust is

If you own an LLC- a corporation

all that will be assigned into your Trust

So, what is a Revocable Living Trust?

A Revocable Living Trust is a private document

where you say, "Hey, I'm going to put all my assets

into the Trust

and as long as I'm alive I'm in charge of these assets

and once I die then it goes to my children

Okay? So that's what a Living Trust is

So when it goes to your children it avoids Probate

It goes in such a manner

where there are less fees involved

maximizing the amount that your children will get

What assets are included in your Revocable Living Trust?

All your real estate, all your cash

stocks, bonds, investments, retirement accounts

and upon your death it will go to your children

in a tax-free manner and protected

Alright, so, a Revocable Living Trust

when you go and create the Living Trust

we put the house into the Trust

your bank accounts and all your assets your assets,

as long as you're alive you're the Initial Trustee

meaning you're in charge.

You're in charge of it, you can sell the house,

or re-finance the house, whatever you want.

and the Trust will say, "Hey,

if I'm disabled, if I'm incapacitated,

someone will be there to take care of it for me.

To use my money to take care of me."

"And upon my death,

I have 4 children, I'm going to choose so-and-so

to be in charge."

For example, to sell the house, divide by four and so forth

So, a Revocable Living Trust

is important in the sense that it's very private.

If you have a Trust it avoids Probate

Probate is very public- Probate exposes all your assets

and who are your children.

Imagine having the world

finding out that your daughter, your son,

is getting $4 or $5 million dollars.

You don't want that!

So a Trust keeps things private:

the value of your estate

who are the beneficiaries?

That's very private.

And the Trust also escapes Medi-Cal Recovery

HUGE

In California, if you are on Medi-Cal

and you do NOT have a Trust

if you're on Medicaid

California is going to want their money back.

In plenty of cases

if you pass away the government is going to want the children to sell the house

so they can recoup

their Medi-Cal reimbursement.

You don't want that to happen to you so get a Trust.

Get a Trust so you can avoid Medi-Cal recovery so your house can go to your children

so

We've talked about you, your husband, and your wife

putting all the assets in here

so now upon the first spouse to pass away

we want the surviving spouse to live a fabulous life

to enjoy life, to be happy.

but at the same time we don't want unnecessary

undue influence

of the second spouse moving in

and being

opportunistic

to take all your hard-earned assets

and nothing left for your children.

So how do we do that?

We can create the Trust in such a manner to protect

the surviving spouse.

Meaning the surviving spouse

"I love you very much, my dear."

You can use whatever you want

But if you ever were

But let's build in some

safeguard so if you get remarried

we don't want third party interference

to come in a drain all our assets

and leave our children with nothing.

So we can create the Trust to prevent

that sad situation.

Alright, so now we move on to

You and your husband, you and your wife both

pass away so it goes to your 3 children.

How do we get the money to your 3 children

in a safe, protected manner?

Meaning, for example,

if they were to get a divorce, if they were to lose money

or creditors are suing them.

Or maybe your son or daughter is not financially

sound at managing money. How do we protect them? Right?

What we do is this

we make sure that your Trust

is able to protect your children, right?

Maybe they're too young,

maybe they're ill, disabled-

maybe they are

maybe they have an addiction problem

gambling, drugs

creditor issues,

we can build your Trust in a manner

where we deliver the money to them

in a vault. Meaning that

upon your death

should your children be going through some

financial storm

or legal nightmare

your money that's going to your son or daughter is protected.

Okay? So how we do that

is we sit down with you

we'll talk

we'll determine together which works out best

because the majority of Trusts just say,

"Hey when I die the house goes to my son, my daughter."

That's called outright distribution

and that may not be the answer because

your son may run out and get a Lamborghini immediately

right? You may not want that.

Maybe we say, "Okay hold on a second."

Let's stage out the distribution at various stages.

For example,

a third at age 25

a third at age 30

and 35 and so forth

okay?

Or we can say, "Hold on a second"

maybe a better way

to pass on our money

is through a lifetime beneficiary-controlled trust

called an Inheritor's Trust

where we give them the money

in such a manner where it stays in the vault

for them only and only them.

Where it can withstand a divorce

withstand a huge lawsuit nightmare, bankruptcy and so forth

Alright, so yeah

How do you want to be remembered?

What values do you want to pass on to your children?

How do you want to protect your hard-earned assets?

That's what makes a great Trust

a great Estate Planning.

A Durable Power of Attorney is very important

It ought to be in this binder

It's called a Durable Power of Attorney

A Durable Power of Attorney says, "Hey,

if I become incapacitated

I trust my husband, I trust my wife

I trust my daughter, I trust my son

to sign my name on my behalf."

Because if you don't have a Durable Power of Attorney built in

what's going to happen is the government is going to take over.

The government says hey, you're over 18

you've lost mental capacity, you're unable to sign

that's called Conservatorship- where the court takes over.

You don't want that.

So a Durable Power of Attorney

built into your Estate Planning

as part of your Trust

will avoid this embarrassing Conservatorship process.

An Advance Health Care Directive is very important because

currently when you go to the hospital,

when you go to the doctor

you speak on your own behalf.

But in situations where you are unconscious

where you need someone to step in your shoes

speak on your behalf

the legal document to do that

is known as the Advance Health Care Directive.

Very critical to have, okay?

In certain situations you want

Your wife, your son, your daughter

to access your medical records to bring you to a specialist

to save your life.

Because medical records is confidential you're going to need the HIPAA Authorization

and that will be in here as well, too.

And, something called a Living Will

because we've seen cases where

the family are fighting- you are brain dead, you are a vegetable

but they're fighting in the family to keep you that way

to hook you up to a machine just to pump your blood

even though you are permanently brain dead

We have documents that says, "Hey,"

-if you wish-

just to let you go. Don't fight in court, don't waste

the Estate money.

We can do that too, through something called a Living Will.

We'll also give you a Pour-Over Will that says

everything that I own goes to the Trust

for my children.

So, Estate Planning

Who is it for? Well it's for everyone, right?

The only persons that do not need

a Trust

is someone who never dies.

So we know that

everybody needs a Living Trust because everybody

at one time or another is going to face

death.

So Estate Planning is for everyone.

So, beware of the "Bare Bones" Trust out there.

A Trust that is not personalized to your needs.

A Trust that doesn't protect against remarriages.

A Trust that doesn't protect against divorces, lawsuits,

and so forth.

A good Trust ought to say "it goes to my children,

and when my children pass it goes to my grandchildren.

So only a good Trust done by a specialist by myself

is going to have that catered to your family.

So our Estate Planning Process, we meet with you,

we understand your family dynamic,

your assets.

Then we design the Trust,

communicate back and forth,

meeting, email, phone call, whatever it takes.

Once it's done you come into the office and you sign

the legal documents, you sign this binder.

Then we take the houses (deeds) and go and record it for you.

We give you funding instructions

All this takes 2 weeks to do

it takes 2 weeks to do.

So, finding the right attorney is very important

you *must* find an attorney that has this logo.

You see on the screen this logo? This logo

is the State Bar of California helping

helping the public.

It says, "Hey, this lawyer

is a Certified Specialist."

Less than 1% of all attorneys in California are

State Bar Specialists

so you want to look for this logo, like myself.

I am a State Bar Specialist

So make sure you have that, and reputation is important too.

Google, Yelp, check them out.

What are people saying about them?

I am tell you how great I am

But my past clients, what do they say about me?

Check us out, we have the best reviews

on Google, on Yelp

So a Certified Specialist is important because we

have to go get additional education in Estate Planning, in Trusts

We have to pass extra examinations,

we have to be practicing a certain amount of years.

All this comes together, all this criteria

State Bar of California, they look at

to see if you're worthy of being a Board Certified Specialist

I look forward to helping with your Trust, with your family

so give me a call, thank you so much.

Why a Living Trust is the Most Important Estate Planning Document in California?

The biggest benefit of a trust is that it will avoid probate at the time of the settlor’s death. A probate refers to the California court supervising the process of administering the decedent’s estate. Because the living trust represents an enforceable contract between the decedent and the successor trustee, there is no reason for a court to get involved, thus, no probate is necessary.

If you own a business, the living trust will allow continued, uninterrupted management of the business.  If you die or become incapacitated then your business will come to a dead stop. However, if you named a successor trustee in your living trust to run your business, your business will have no interruption in management.

A living trust can be a useful device for planning for incapacity.  Once the assets are transferred into the living trust, then the trustee can manage the assets for you in your absence due to you being out of the country or temporarily incapacitated.

Tax benefits to your heirs. Giving your home to your children in a living trust means that they will get the house after your die, which ensures that the children will get a full stepped-up basis and will not have to pay any capital gains if they choose to sell the house.

There are many other benefits of a living trust. Schedule a consultation to see how your family can benefit from having a comprehensive trust package.

7 Essential Components of a Living Trust

Check if your trust fully protects you and your loved ones!

There are no do-overs once you pass away: you can't come back and correct the mistakes. Use our free tool to see if your trust has all the essential components.