Journal
Plain-English guidance on wills, trusts, probate, and protecting your family in California.
What Happens to the Mortgage When You Inherit a House? (California)
The mortgage doesn't vanish or come due when you inherit. How Garn-St. Germain protects you, your keep/refinance/sell options, and how reverse mortgages differ.
Read →Can You Refinance a House That’s in Your Living Trust? (California)
Yes — and it won't trigger reassessment. Why some lenders move title out temporarily, and the one mistake that leaves your home exposed to probate afterward.
Read →Life Estate vs. Transfer-on-Death Deed vs. Trust in California
Three ways to pass your home: a life estate, a revocable TOD deed, or a living trust. An honest comparison of control, cost, and who each one actually…
Read →Buying Out a Sibling on an Inherited House Without Losing the Prop 19 Basis
How to buy out your siblings on an inherited California home and keep the low property-tax basis — why a third-party trust loan, not a cash buyout, protects…
Read →Capital Gains on an Inherited House in California (2026)
Do you pay capital gains on an inherited California home? How the step-up in basis works, the community-property double step-up, and why gifting a house is often worse.
Read →Does a Living Trust File a Tax Return? (California, 2026)
While you're alive, a revocable living trust files no separate tax return and needs no EIN. What changes after death, the Form 1041, and the 645 election —…
Read →Estate Tax Portability in California: The 706 Most Families Skip
Portability lets a surviving spouse keep the first spouse's unused $15M exemption — but only if you file a 706. The real 5-year deadline, and who actually needs…
Read →Do You Still Need a SLAT After the 2026 Tax Law? (California)
The 2026 exemption sunset that drove SLAT urgency was repealed. When a spousal lifetime access trust still makes sense in California — and when it doesn't.
Read →Want a straight read on where you stand?
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