Living Trust Attorney in Tarzana

Living Trust Attorney in Tarzana

Why a trust avoids probate, and what funding means, is covered on the statewide living trust page. Two things are worth saying specifically to Tarzana households.

The first is that in an older neighborhood the incapacity half of the package does more work than the death half, and people spend all their attention on the wrong one. The second is that condominiums and small rental buildings do not fund the same way a single-family house does.

The agent decision deserves more thought than it gets

The durable power of attorney names someone to manage your money if you cannot. In practice that person will have broad authority over your accounts for what may be years, with no court supervision and often no sibling looking closely.

That is an enormous amount of trust, and the choice is usually made in about ninety seconds, at the end of a meeting, by naming the eldest or the nearest. I would rather slow that down. The right questions are who is actually good with money, who lives close enough to act, who will be able to say no to other family members, and whether two people should be required to act together for larger transactions.

This is the decision I see cause the most damage across the Valley, and it costs nothing to get right at the outset.

Funding a condominium or a small building

For a single-family house, funding is one recorded deed. For a condominium it is a deed plus, frequently, notice to the association, and some governing documents have requirements about transfers even to a revocable trust. Worth reading rather than assuming.

For a duplex or fourplex, the deed is the same but the surrounding pieces are not. Leases should name the trust or the owner correctly, the insurance should match the title, and the rents should be going somewhere consistent with how the property is held. A property deeded to the trust while everything else still runs in an individual name is only half funded, and the mismatch surfaces at the worst time.

What the engagement covers

Flat fee, quoted before anything starts: $4,100 for a married couple, $3,700 for a single person. That covers the trust, the pour-over will, durable powers of attorney, advance health care directives and the certification of trust, along with recording the deed into the trust.

The practice is remote. Meetings by phone or video, and for signing I arrange a notary and witnesses local to you, because California has not authorized remote online notarization for general use.

Questions Tarzana clients ask

Who should I name under my power of attorney? Whoever is genuinely good with money, close enough to act, and able to say no to other relatives. Not automatically the eldest. You can also require two people to act together above a dollar threshold, which is worth considering where the amounts are significant.

Does a condo fund into a trust differently? The deed is the same, but many associations want notice and some governing documents address transfers even to a revocable trust. Read the CC&Rs rather than assuming, and handle it at the time rather than leaving it for your family.

I own a fourplex. Anything extra? Make the surrounding paperwork match the title. Leases, insurance and where the rent is deposited should all be consistent with how the property is held. A deed into the trust with everything else in an individual name is a mismatch that surfaces at the worst moment.

What does it cost? $4,100 for a married couple, $3,700 for a single person, flat and quoted before work starts. A restatement of an existing trust is priced the same as a new one.

Do we have to come to an office? No. The work happens by phone and video, and I arrange a local notary and witnesses for signing.

Talk to Eric or call 805-244-5291. I serve Tarzana and the surrounding San Fernando Valley communities.

For the statewide version, see living trusts in California. The incapacity half of the package is covered in the durable power of attorney and avoiding conservatorship. If someone has already died, see probate in Tarzana.