Trusts and Wills

At the Law Offices of Renee L. Spieckermann, we believe it is important for you to have a clear understanding about what our services entail. As such, please read on for clarifications on trusts and wills, and to help determine what you may need. Additionally, please do not hesitate to CONTACT US for more assistance, or to start your consultation.

What is a TRUST?

There are various types of trusts, but most individuals need a revocable living trust. A revocable living is the most common trust used to pass on property to loved ones or charities upon one’s death.

You, the client, will be the trustor/settlor/grantor of a living trust that you create and then fund with your assets. Assets are anything with monetary value.

How you fund your trust depends upon what assets you have and your particular planning goals. During your lifetime, putting property in your living trust does not affect your ability to invest or use those assets, nor does it require a separate tax identification number. The living trust is revocable and amendable during your life.

Following your death, or upon your incapacity, the trust will be administered according to your wishes. Following your death, your trust may remain held for a designated period of time for the benefit of your chosen beneficiaries (which can include individuals, charities, or pets). Alternatively, your trust may be distributed outright to your chosen beneficiaries.  

The benefits of a living trust are numerous:

• Avoidance of lengthy and potentially expensive probate court proceedings following your death

• More difficult to contest

• Not public record

• Assets are not frozen upon death

• Avoidance of Medi-Cal recovery

• Manages assets when beneficiaries are under 18 and beyond

• Clarity for your beneficiaries

We offer flat fee pricing for our living trust plan package. The package includes a living trust, pour-over will, durable power of attorney (financial power of attorney), advanced health care directive (health care power of attorney), guardianship designation forms, and a HIPAA release.  See our Powers of Attorney section for more information on these accompanying documents. See our Process & Pricing Page for more details.

What is a Will?

A will can be prepared either by itself, or as part of a living trust package.

The key functions of a will are:

• Instructions for distributing your assets

• A place to name guardians for any minor children

• Nominating Executor(s)

• Details about your family

• Burial preferences

Although it is technically possible to request only a will, we do not recommend this. Documents such a durable power of attorney (aka financial power of attorney), advanced health care directive (aka health care power of attorney), and a HIPAA release are crucial in the event that you become too ill or incapacitated to manage your affairs or make medical decisions.

For this reason we recommend that a standalone will is accompanied by these documents (as seen in our will packages),or included as a document in a living trust.

When the will is prepared as an accompanying document to a living trust, it is called a Pour-Over-Will. The purpose of a Pour-Over-Will is to funnel anything into the trust that did not get transferred to it during the grantor’s lifetime.

Do I need a Trust OR WILL?

A will may be all you need if:

• All your assets are in forms that have joint ownership or beneficiaries designated, and you are comfortable with that arrangement. In this case, the will is only to cover personal items or limited funds. Note that it is likely that if you own real property, you will need a trust.

• A will is necessary to lay out your wishes with respect to beneficiaries in case you end up with more than $184,500 in assets in your individual name that are outside a trust and without pay on death beneficiaries or joint owners. The will would need to be submitted to probate court to distribute those assets. See our probate section for more details. 

Do I need a specialized trust?

There are situations when a basic trust does not adequately address your needs. Founding attorney, Renee Spieckermann, has experience in specialized trusts, and holds her LL.M. in taxation. She understands and can educate you on best practices in unique circumstances and on the tax implications of the various planning tools.

Some of these unique circumstances include, but are not limited to:

• If you have a child with special needs, you may need a special needs trust.

• If you have a large amount of money in retirement accounts, you may need a specialized retirement trust.

• If you need an income stream, but plan on giving a large portion of your liquid estate to charity, you may be interested in a charitable remainder trust.

• If you need to lower your taxable estate in some way by getting appreciating property out of your estate, you may need an advanced trust.