Calabasas estate planning attorneys explain what happens to debt when someone passes away and the exceptions that catch people off guard.

Do You Inherit Your Parents’ Debt? What a Calabasas Estate Planning Attorney Wants You to Know

by Estate Planning

The short answer is yes; in most cases, children do not inherit their parents’ debt. Debts belong to the estate, and the estate pays them from the assets the person left behind. Family members generally are not personally responsible. That said, a few exceptions catch people off guard, and knowing them ahead of time can save your family real stress.

What happens to debt when someone passes away?

When a person dies, their debts do not transfer to the children. Instead, the estate goes through a settling process. Creditors are notified, valid debts are paid from estate assets, and whatever remains passes to the heirs. If the estate does not have enough to cover everything, many debts simply go unpaid, and in most situations, the family does not have to make up the difference.

When can debt touch the family?

The exceptions usually involve shared responsibility. If you cosigned a loan or held a joint credit card with your parent, that debt is yours by contract, not by inheritance. A spouse may have responsibility for certain debts, especially in community property states. And California has its own rules worth understanding, which is one reason a local review helps. The pattern to remember is this: You generally owe only what you already agreed to owe while your parent was living.

What about the house?

A mortgage does not disappear at death, but it does not land on the children personally either. The loan stays attached to the home. An heir who wants to keep the house can generally continue making payments or refinance, and an heir who does not can let the home be sold, with the loan paid from the proceeds. What matters is making a decision promptly so payments do not slip while the estate is being sorted out.

What about medical and nursing home bills?

Medical debt is usually paid by the estate, like any other debt. A small number of states have old laws that can, in limited situations, involve adult children in a parent’s care costs, so it is worth asking how California treats this rather than assuming the worst. Careful planning during a parent’s lifetime often prevents the issue from ever arising.

What should you do if collectors call?

Do not agree to pay anything on the spot. Some collectors contact grieving family members hoping they will pay debts they do not owe. You can ask for written validation, direct them to the estate’s representative, and take your time. Paying a parent’s debt from your own pocket is rarely required, and a quick conversation with an attorney can confirm where you actually stand.

The takeaway

Your parents’ debts are almost always the estate’s problem to solve, not yours. If you are settling a loved one’s affairs, or you want your own plan structured so your children never have to wonder, our Calabasas estate planning attorneys are glad to walk you through it. Please call our office at (818) 334-2805 to schedule a time to talk.

San Fernando Valley estate attorneys

You Signed a Trust Years Ago. Your Family Could Still End Up in Probate: Advice From a San Fernando Valley Estate Attorney

by Estate Planning

Here is a truth that surprises many families: Signing a living trust does not, by itself, keep your estate out of probate. A trust only controls the assets that are actually titled in its name. If your home, accounts, or other property were never transferred into the trust, or quietly slipped back out over the years, your family may face the exact court process the trust was designed to avoid. The good news is that checking is simple, and fixing gaps is usually easy while you are here to do it.

What does “funding a trust” mean?

Funding is the step after signing. It means retitling your assets so the trust owns them. This involves recording a new deed for your home, changing the ownership of bank and investment accounts, and updating how new property is acquired. Think of the trust as a well-built container. It protects only what you place inside it. An unfunded trust is one of the most common estate planning problems we see in the San Fernando Valley, and families usually discover it at the hardest possible moment.

How do assets end up outside a trust?

It is rarely through anyone’s fault. A family buys a new home years after signing the trust, and title is taken in their individual names. A refinance requires the home to come out of the trust, and the lender’s paperwork never puts it back. A new bank account gets opened during a busy season of life. An inheritance arrives and sits where it landed. Each of these is ordinary, and each one quietly creates an asset the trust does not control.

What happens to assets left out of the trust?

Most trust-based plans include a pour-over will, which acts as a safety net by directing stray assets into the trust at death. The catch is that the pour-over will generally has to go through probate to work. The safety net catches the asset, but only after the court process the trust was meant to spare your family. That is why funding, rather than the documents alone, determines how smoothly things go.

How do you check whether your trust is funded?

Pull the deed to your home and see whose name is on it. Look at the ownership line on your bank and investment statements. List anything of significance you have acquired since the trust was signed, including property in another state. If the trust’s name is not on an asset, and the asset does not pass by beneficiary designation, it likely sits outside the plan. A California attorney can review the full picture quickly.

The conclusion

A trust you signed years ago may still be excellent. It simply needs to own what you own today. If it has been more than a few years since anyone looked, or if you have refinanced, moved, or opened new accounts, a funding review is one of the most valuable checkups available. Our San Fernando Valley estate attorneys would be happy to take a look with you. Please call our office at (818) 334-2805.

Calabasas Estate Attorney

You Inherited an IRA. Now What? Advice From a Calabasas Estate Attorney

by Estate Planning

If you recently inherited an IRA or 401(k), the most important thing to know is that most non-spouse beneficiaries must withdraw the entire account within 10 years, and the choices you make in the first weeks can affect how much of the money you actually keep. The inherited IRA rules changed significantly in recent years, and the old advice about stretching withdrawals over your lifetime no longer applies to most people.

What is the 10-year rule?

For most adult children and other non-spouse beneficiaries, the account must be emptied by the end of the tenth year after the original owner’s death. Depending on when the original owner passed away and whether they had already started required withdrawals, you may also need to take withdrawals along the way rather than waiting until year ten. The rules have shifted more than once, so it is worth confirming your specific timeline rather than relying on something you read a few years ago.

Do spouses have different options?

Yes, and they are usually better ones. A surviving spouse can often treat the inherited account as their own, which may allow withdrawals to be spread over their lifetime. Certain other beneficiaries, such as those with a disability or chronic illness, may also qualify for more flexible treatment. If you think you might fall into one of these categories, it is worth confirming before making any withdrawals.

Why does the timing of withdrawals matter?

Because most withdrawals from a traditional IRA count as taxable income to you. Emptying the account in a single year could push you into a higher tax bracket, while spreading withdrawals across the 10 years often produces a smaller total tax bill. The best schedule depends on your income, your plans, and the size of the account, which is why a little planning up front can be worth a great deal.

What mistakes should you avoid?

A few come up again and again: Cashing out immediately without understanding the tax hit. Retitling the account incorrectly, since an inherited IRA must be moved in a specific way to preserve its status. Missing a required withdrawal, which can bring penalties. And forgetting to name your own beneficiaries on the inherited account. None of these mistakes is hard to avoid once you know the rules, and most are difficult to undo after the fact.

What should you do first?

Take a breath. Very little about an inherited IRA has to happen overnight, and rushed decisions cause most of the problems. Gather the account information, confirm how the account will be titled, and talk with someone who understands both the tax rules and how the account fits into your broader picture as a California resident.

In summary

An inherited IRA comes with deadlines and tax choices that deserve a thoughtful look before you touch the money. Our Calabasas estate attorneys can help you understand your options and coordinate with your tax advisor so the account does what your loved one intended. Give us a call at (818) 334-2805.

Nursing Home Costs in the San Fernando Valley

Protecting Your Home From Nursing Home Costs in the San Fernando Valley

by Estate Planning

For most families, the home is far more than an asset. It holds a lifetime of memories and the hope of leaving something behind for the children. So it is a real and growing worry that, as we age, a nursing home bill could quietly drain everything the home represents. The cost of long-term care is one of the worries we hear about most from families today, and many people assume there is nothing to do but watch it happen. That is the part we want to correct. You do not have to give up control and simply let the home go. With thoughtful Medi-Cal planning in the San Fernando Valley, there are often steps a family can take to protect it, especially when they plan a little ahead. Let us share a story that shows why timing matters so much.

When Ruth signed her home over to her daughter, she thought she was protecting it. She had heard that putting the house in a child’s name could keep it safe from nursing home costs. Two years later, Ruth had a fall, needed nursing home care, and applied for Medi-Cal. That transfer suddenly counted against her, created a penalty period, and the family paid out of pocket for months of care they never expected, with the home now exposed to risks Ruth never saw coming.

Why did transferring the home cause trouble?

When you apply for Medi-Cal to help with long-term care, the program looks back over the past five years of your finances. Gifts and transfers made during that window, including signing over a home, can trigger a penalty period when Medi-Cal will not pay. Ruth’s intentions were good. The timing was the problem.

What about adding a child to the deed?

Ruth transferred her home outright, but many parents try a softer version of the same idea: Adding a child to the deed as a co-owner while keeping their own share. It feels safer, yet it carries many of the same risks. The transfer of partial ownership can still trigger a Medi-Cal penalty, and it exposes that share of the home to the child’s divorce or creditors. It can also create a tax surprise when the child later sells, since they may lose the full step-up in basis they would have received by inheriting the home instead. Good intentions, without a plan, can put the very home you were trying to protect at risk.

Is there a safer, more effective way?

Yes, and it usually comes down to time. Certain trusts, set up well before care is needed, may protect the home and savings while preserving eligibility for Medi-Cal coverage down the road. For example, one couple placed their home in the right kind of trust years before any health crisis. When one of them later needed care, the home was protected, and their children inherited it rather than watching it pay a care bill.

What about the state recovering costs later?

There is a second concern worth understanding. After a person who received Medi-Cal passes away, the state can seek repayment from their estate, and the home is often the largest asset it looks to. This is called estate recovery, and the exact rules vary from state to state. It catches many families off guard, because the home can survive the care years only to face a claim afterward. The encouraging part is that planning done early, such as placing the home in the right kind of trust, may keep it out of the estate the state can reach, so it has a better chance of passing to your children instead.

And if a crisis has already started?

Please do not lose hope. Even after a loved one enters nursing home care, there are often steps that may protect a portion of the family’s remaining savings and the home. The worst thing a family can do is nothing, or move assets around in a panic, which usually makes matters worse. Even late in the process, you typically have more options than you think.

The bottom line

The cost of care is a legitimate worry, but it is not one you have to face powerless. The five-year rule actually rewards families who plan early, and simply understanding how it works puts you ahead of most. With careful Medi-Cal planning in San Fernando Valley, you may be able to protect both the home and the security you worked a lifetime to build. If nursing home costs worry you, we would be glad to help you look at your options before a crisis forces a rushed decision. Please call our office at 818-334-2805.

Eestate planning in Calabasas

Protecting Both Your Spouse and Your Children: Estate Planning in Calabasas for Blended Families

by Estate Planning

Blending two families together takes a lot of love and patience, and most couples assume that love will carry everyone through after one of them is gone. We understand why. It feels almost cold to imagine your spouse and your children ending up on opposite sides. Yet this is one of the most common heartaches we see, and a little estate planning in Calabasas can prevent nearly all of it.

Let us walk through how it happens, using a simple story.

Tom and Linda married in their sixties, each with grown children from earlier marriages. Tom owned the home. When he passed, he left everything to Linda, trusting that she would someday pass his share along to his two sons. Five years later, Linda passed too. Her own will left everything to her daughter, and Tom’s sons received nothing. No one did anything wrong. The plan simply was not built for a blended family.

Why does this happen so often?

When everything goes to a surviving spouse outright, it truly becomes theirs. They can spend it, move, remarry, or rewrite their own will, and the children from the first marriage have no say. It is not about bad intentions. It is about how the law reads the paperwork.

Stepchildren feel this most. Unless you name them in a will or trust, California law treats stepchildren as strangers to your estate, no matter how many years or holidays you shared. A few lines in the right document would have made Tom’s sons heirs instead of strangers.

How can a family protect everyone at once?

This is the part we love, because the answer is genuinely reassuring. There are a couple of well-established ways to care for your spouse and your children at the same time, and the right one depends on your family.

One option is a trust. The right kind of trust can hold the home along with other assets, let your surviving spouse live in the home and receive income for the rest of their life, and then direct whatever remains to your own children after your spouse is gone. Because a trustee stays involved, a trust offers flexibility: The home can be sold, or the family can relocate if needs change, all while the final destination stays locked in for your children.

Another option is a life estate. With a life estate, your spouse has the legal right to live in the home for the rest of their life, and when they pass, the home goes directly to the children you named, without going through probate. It is simpler and more straightforward than a trust, which some families prefer, though it offers less flexibility if circumstances change down the road.

Both tools accomplish the same loving goal: Your spouse is cared for, and your children are protected, so grief never turns into suspicion. Had Tom used either one, Linda would have been provided for, and his sons would still have received his share, with no courtroom and no hard feelings.

What about a simple will?

A will alone still goes through Los Angeles County probate, and it does not override beneficiary forms or jointly owned accounts. Those forms quietly decide who receives the retirement account or the house, no matter what the will says. That is why the pieces all need to work together.

The bottom line

If you are starting your estate planning in Calabasas, none of this has to feel overwhelming. With a clear plan and an honest conversation while everyone is healthy, a blended family can protect the marriage and the children at the same time. That is a real gift to everyone you love.

If your family blends two histories, we would be glad to help you build a plan that cares for your spouse and your children together. We can set up the trusts, life estates, and beneficiary designations so a second marriage never accidentally leaves your kids with nothing. Give us a call at 818-334-2805 to talk through your planning needs.

Attorney Lisa Golshani discusses choosing a trustee in California and what you need to consider when making this very important decision. choosing a trustee in California

Choosing the Right Trustee for Your Family

by Estate Planning

Imagine the people you love most gathered after you are gone, and one of your children now holds the checkbook for the others. That single choice, who you name as trustee, can either hold your family together or quietly pull it apart. Many parents simply pick their oldest child because it feels natural, and we understand the instinct. Still, it is one of the most important decisions in your entire plan, and it is worth slowing down to get it right. Let’s go through what you need to consider.

First, what does a trustee actually do?

Quite a lot. They gather the assets, pay debts and taxes, keep careful records, keep everyone informed, and follow the trust’s instructions exactly. It is genuinely a job, and mistakes can fall on the trustee personally. That is worth knowing before you ask someone to take it on.

Once you understand the weight of the role, the next question is who should carry it. Most families have three options to weigh, and each comes with real advantages and real trade-offs. Let’s look at them one at a time.

Should you name a family member?

The comfort here is real: Someone who knows the family and serves out of love, usually without a fee. The harder part is that the same person becomes both a referee and a player. When one sibling controls the money and the timing, an ordinary delay can feel like a slight, even when nothing is wrong. A caring relative can also feel buried by tax forms they have never seen before.

What about a professional or corporate trustee?

The advantage here is neutrality and experience. A professional treats every family member the same way, follows the document instead of old history, and knows the paperwork well. The trade-off is a fee and a little less personal warmth. For many families, that trade buys a peace of mind that is worth far more than the cost.

Can you combine both?

You do not have to choose all or nothing. A relative can serve alongside a professional, or with a simple requirement to share yearly accountings and to bring in experts for taxes. Your loved one keeps the personal role, and the structure quietly provides the transparency that prevents suspicion.

So how do you decide?

Take an honest, clear-eyed look at your own family. If everyone gets along and one person is organized and fair, a relative may do beautifully with a little support. If there is tension, real money, or a long history of comparison, a neutral trustee often protects the relationships better than a relative could.

A trust is only as good as the person who carries it out, and there is no shame in wanting help with this choice. Thinking it through carefully is one of the kindest things you can do for the people you leave behind. If you are setting up or updating a trust, we would be glad to help you choose a trustee in California who will protect your family rather than divide it. Call our office at 818-334-2805 to talk it through.

Calabasas estate planning attorney

When an Heir Dies Before You Do: What a Calabasas Estate Planning Attorney Wants You to Know

by Estate Planning

Estate plans are built around assumptions. The assumption that your spouse will be there. That your sibling will outlive you. That the person you named as your primary beneficiary fifteen years ago will still be alive to receive what you left them.

Sometimes those assumptions don’t hold.

When a named heir predeceases you and your plan doesn’t account for it, the outcome depends entirely on how your documents are written and whether your state’s laws step in to fill the gap. As a Calabasas estate planning attorney, I want to walk you through what actually happens in this situation, because the answer is rarely what families expect.

What Happens to a Gift When the Recipient Is Already Gone?

When a beneficiary dies before you do, the gift they were supposed to receive is said to lapse. What happens next depends on several factors: how the gift was structured, whether your documents named a contingent beneficiary, and what your state’s laws say about this exact situation.

If you named a specific person and only that person, with no backup named, that share of your estate may fall into what is called the residuary estate, the catch-all portion of your plan that covers assets not otherwise directed. If your residuary beneficiary is also gone, the situation becomes more complicated still.

What Are Anti-Lapse Statutes and Do They Apply?

Most states have anti-lapse statutes, which are laws designed to prevent an unintended outcome when a beneficiary predeceases the person who made the will. In many cases, these statutes allow the deceased beneficiary’s share to pass automatically to their descendants instead of lapsing entirely.

However, anti-lapse statutes do not apply universally. They typically cover only certain categories of relatives, most commonly descendants and siblings, and they do not always extend to friends, stepchildren, or more distant relatives. A Calabasas estate planning attorney can tell you exactly how your state’s statute applies to the people named in your documents.

Why “Per Stirpes” Language Matters

One of the most effective ways to plan for this possibility is through per stirpes distribution language. When a gift is left per stirpes, it means that if a beneficiary predeceases you, their share passes down to their own children rather than disappearing or being redistributed elsewhere. It is a simple designation that can prevent significant unintended consequences.

If your documents don’t include this language, or if you’re not sure whether they do, that is worth reviewing.

A Scenario Worth Considering

Imagine you created your estate plan twenty years ago and named your brother as a primary beneficiary. He passed away five years ago. You meant to update your plan but never got around to it. Depending on your state’s laws and how your documents are written, his share might pass to his children, fall into your residuary estate, or become subject to a legal process that no one anticipated. None of those outcomes may reflect what you actually wanted.

The Fix Is Simpler Than the Problem

Naming contingent beneficiaries, reviewing your plan after a significant loss, and using clear distribution language are all straightforward steps that prevent a great deal of confusion later. The issue is not complexity. It is simply that most people don’t revisit their plan when someone they love passes away.

If you have lost someone named in your estate plan and have not updated your documents, we invite you to schedule a consultation with our office. Call us at 818-334-2805, and let’s make sure your plan still reflects your intentions.

Calabasas estate planning attorneys

Planning for an Estranged Child in Your Estate Plan: What Calabasas Estate Planning Attorneys Want You to Consider

by Estate PlanningUncategorized

Family estrangement is more common than most people talk about openly, and it creates one of the more delicate planning situations we encounter as Calabasas estate planning attorneys. The parent who is no longer in contact with a child, but does not want to cut them out entirely, is navigating a situation that requires more legal care than most people realize.

The instinct is often to set it aside. To figure it out later. To hope the relationship improves before the question becomes urgent. But an estate plan that doesn’t directly address an estranged child, in either direction, can create exactly the kind of conflict and legal exposure you were hoping to avoid.

Why Silence Is Not a Safe Choice

If a child is not mentioned in your will or trust at all, most states have laws designed to protect children who may have been accidentally overlooked. These are called pretermitted heir statutes, and they exist to prevent unintentional disinheritance. The problem is that they cannot distinguish between a child you forgot to include and a child you deliberately chose not to address.

If your estranged child is not named and not explicitly accounted for, they may have legal grounds to claim a share of your estate regardless of your intentions. That claim lands in court, costs money, and forces your other heirs to defend a plan that was never properly prepared for this situation.

What Does Intentional Planning Actually Look Like Here?

The goal is to document your intentions clearly enough that they cannot be successfully challenged. That means naming the estranged child in your documents, acknowledging their existence, and stating explicitly what you intend for them to receive, even if that amount is modest.

A no-contest clause, sometimes called an in terrorem clause, is another tool worth discussing with your attorney. This provision discourages beneficiaries from challenging the plan by making any unsuccessful challenge grounds for forfeiting their inheritance entirely. It does not prevent a challenge, but it raises the stakes of bringing one.

What About the Executor or Trustee?

If your estranged child is receiving something under your plan, the person administering your estate will need to locate them, communicate with them, and potentially coordinate a distribution. That process can be complicated when a relationship is strained. Choosing an executor or trustee who is equipped to handle that dynamic, and who is not personally caught in the middle of it, is a meaningful part of the planning decision.

What If the Estrangement Is the Child’s Choice, Not Yours?

This is a distinction that matters emotionally more than legally, but it still shapes how some clients want to approach their plan. Some parents want to leave a door open. Others want to honor a boundary that the child themselves established. Either intention can be structured into a plan. What it requires is a direct conversation with your attorney about what you actually want, not what feels easiest to say out loud.

This Conversation Deserves a Real Plan

Estrangement is painful enough without leaving your estate plan to interpret it after you are gone. The kindest thing you can do for everyone involved, including the estranged child, is to make your intentions clear and legally defensible while you still can.

If this situation is part of your family’s reality, we invite you to reach out and schedule a consultation with our office. These are exactly the conversations we are here to help you navigate.

LA County estate administration

The Storage Unit Nobody Knows What to Do With: Advice from a North LA County Estate Administration Attorney

by Estate Planning

Most families have one. Sometimes it’s a storage unit across town. Sometimes it’s a garage, a spare bedroom, or a basement packed floor to ceiling with decades of accumulated belongings. Things that were too meaningful to donate, too plentiful to sort through, and too overwhelming to deal with at the time.

When the person who rented that unit passes away, the belongings don’t go anywhere. But the monthly bill keeps coming, and suddenly the estate is paying for a problem no one has the emotional bandwidth to solve.

As a North LA County estate administration attorney, I want to address this honestly, because it comes up more often than you might think, and it costs families more than just money.

Why Does This Become Such a Problem?

The contents of a storage unit often exist in a kind of sentimental limbo. No one actively wants the items, but no one feels authorized to let them go either. One sibling worries that something valuable might be buried in the boxes. Another feels that disposing of anything would be disrespectful. A third lives out of state and can’t get there to look through it. Meanwhile, the estate is paying rent on a unit full of things that may ultimately go to an auction house or a dumpster anyway.

The paralysis is understandable. The cost of it is real.

What Authority Does the Executor Actually Have?

The executor or personal representative of the estate has the legal authority and responsibility to address personal property, including the contents of a storage unit. They are not required to wait indefinitely for every heir to reach consensus. Their job is to administer the estate efficiently and in accordance with the decedent’s wishes, and that includes making practical decisions about belongings when the family cannot.

If you are currently serving as an executor in this situation, working with a North LA County estate administration attorney can help you understand exactly what your authority permits and how to document your decisions properly.

What Are the Practical Options?

An estate sale company is often the most efficient first step. A professional can assess the contents quickly, identify anything of actual value, and manage the sale process without requiring family members to be present for every decision. What doesn’t sell can be donated, auctioned, or removed by a junk service.

The goal is not to be callous about someone’s belongings. It is to recognize that an unresolved storage unit is an ongoing expense and an emotional anchor that keeps families from moving forward.

What Can You Do in Your Own Planning to Prevent This?

This is where the conversation shifts from estate administration to estate planning, and it is worth having before you are gone.

A letter of instruction, separate from your will or trust, can address your storage unit or accumulated belongings directly. You can give your executor explicit permission to make disposal decisions without requiring family agreement. You can identify anything you want to go to a specific person and release everything else. That kind of clarity is a genuine gift to the people you leave behind.

Even better, dealing with the storage unit while you are still able is one of the most practical things you can do for your family. It sounds unglamorous. It is also one of the kindest.

If you are administering an estate that includes unresolved personal property, or if you want to address this in your own plan before it becomes someone else’s burden, we invite you to schedule a consultation with our office to discuss your situation.

Calabasas trust lawyer

What Happens to Your Stock Market Investments When You Transfer Them Into a Living Trust?

by Estate Planning

If you have a brokerage account or investment portfolio and you are thinking about creating a living trust, this is one of the most practical questions you can ask. And as a Calabasas trust lawyer, it is one I am glad to answer, because the answer is genuinely reassuring for most people.

The Short Answer: Not Much Changes

Transferring investments into a living trust does not mean selling them, liquidating your portfolio, or triggering a taxable event. In most cases, the assets simply move from your name individually into the name of your trust. The investments themselves stay exactly as they are.

Your stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, and bonds continue to be held in the same brokerage account. They continue to grow, earn dividends, and fluctuate with the market just as they always did. The only thing that changes is the legal ownership structure, and that change is exactly the point.

Why the Ownership Structure Matters

When investments are held in your name alone, and you pass away, those assets typically have to go through probate before they can be distributed to your heirs. That means court involvement, public records, potential delays of months or longer, and fees that eat into the very portfolio you spent years building.

When those same investments are held inside a living trust, they pass directly to your beneficiaries according to your instructions, without court supervision, without public disclosure, and without the wait. Your heirs get access to the funds when they actually need them, not when the court gets around to it.

What About Taxes?

This is where a lot of people get nervous, and understandably so. The good news is that transferring investments into a revocable living trust has no immediate tax consequences. The IRS still treats the assets as yours during your lifetime. You continue to report dividends and capital gains on your personal tax return exactly as you did before. Your cost basis on each investment remains unchanged.

The trust becomes its own tax entity only after you pass away, at which point your Calabasas trust lawyer and your financial advisor can work together to ensure distributions are handled in the most tax-efficient way possible for your beneficiaries.

What About Accounts With Named Beneficiaries?

It is worth noting that some investment accounts, particularly IRAs and 401(k)s, are generally not transferred directly into a trust. These accounts have their own beneficiary designation rules, and naming a trust as the beneficiary of a retirement account requires careful planning to avoid unintended tax consequences. This is an area where getting professional guidance is especially important before making any changes.

For standard taxable brokerage accounts, however, the transfer process is usually straightforward. Your brokerage will have a process for retitling the account in the name of your trust, and your Calabasas trust lawyer can provide the documentation they need to make it happen.

The Bottom Line

Putting your investments into a living trust does not disrupt your portfolio or your tax situation. What it does is make sure those assets get to the right people, efficiently and privately, without the cost and delay of probate.

If you have questions about how your specific investments would be affected, we invite you to give us a call at 818-334-2805 and schedule a consultation. Let’s make sure your portfolio is protected the same way the rest of your estate is.