Wills & Trusts
Creating Wills and Living Trusts in Los Angeles County and Orange County
The documents are the easy part. Fred designs the plan around your family, supervises the signing, and moves the house into the trust so it works when it is needed.
- Two witnesses, present together, for a formal will (Prob. Code §6110)
- A living trust controls only the assets titled in it, so we record the deed
- Probate fees are charged on gross value, mortgage included (Prob. Code §10810)
- Powers of attorney and a health care directive complete the plan (Prob. Code §4600)
The measure of an estate plan is what happens in the week after a death: whether your family can act, or has to wait for a court. Fred Yadegar prepares wills and living trusts for families in Los Angeles County and Orange County, designs each plan around the people and the property involved, and carries it through the step that makes it work, which is moving the house and the accounts into the trust. Creating wills and trusts is document work, but the documents are only the start.
Start with the week after
With a will alone, the person you named as executor has authority only after the probate court grants it. In Los Angeles County that proceeding typically takes 9 to 18 months, and the attorney and the executor are each entitled to a statutory fee on the gross value of the estate: 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, and 1% of the next $9 million (Prob. Code §10810). The mortgage is not deducted before the percentages apply.
With a funded revocable living trust, the successor trustee you chose takes over the assets titled in the trust and distributes them under its terms, with no court proceeding for those assets. The difference is not the quality of the documents. It is whether the assets were placed in the trust while you were alive.
What the trust does while you are living
A revocable living trust changes very little day to day. You are usually the trustee of your own trust, you keep control of the property, and you can amend or revoke the trust as long as you have capacity. The trust matters at two moments: incapacity, when your successor trustee can step in for the trust assets, and death, when the same person distributes them. It is private, and it is built to be carried out by someone you picked rather than someone a judge picks.
Signing so the documents hold up
The Probate Code requires a formal will to be written, signed by the person making it, and witnessed by two adults who are both present when it is signed (Prob. Code §6110). A holographic will, one written out and signed in the testator’s own hand, needs no witnesses (§6111). California also offers a fill-in statutory will (§6240). Any of the three still passes through probate, and the shorter forms leave more room for argument about what was meant. We prepare the will as part of the plan, supervise the signing, and keep the formalities uneventful, which is what you want.
Call now: A deed in your own name is a probate case waiting to happen. Bring the deed and a list of what you own, and we will tell you what a plan would involve before you decide anything.
Funding: the step that decides everything
A trust controls only what has been titled in it. Funding is the work of retitling, and we do it rather than handing you a checklist:
- The house. We prepare a deed moving the property out of your individual name and into your name as trustee, then record it with the county recorder in Los Angeles or Orange County.
- Bank and investment accounts. Retitled into the trust or set to pay to it on death, depending on the institution.
- Retirement accounts and life insurance. These pass by the beneficiary form on file with the custodian, not by the trust, so the forms have to be brought into line with the plan.
- Everything else. The pour-over will directs anything left outside the trust into it at death, which is a safety net for the overlooked, not a plan for the house.
An unfunded trust is one of the failures we see most often in document reviews, and it is entirely avoidable.
The documents around the trust
- A pour-over will, described above.
- A durable power of attorney for finances, so a person you chose can pay the mortgage, deal with banks, and handle insurance if you cannot.
- An Advance Health Care Directive (Prob. Code §4600 et seq.), naming the person who speaks to your doctors and recording your wishes about treatment.
Choosing the people
Every one of these documents names someone. A successor trustee needs judgment, patience with paperwork, and the ability to say no to a relative. The trustee’s duties are real: loyalty, impartiality among beneficiaries, prudent investment, avoiding conflicts (Prob. Code §16000–16015), and an accounting to current beneficiaries at least once a year (§16062). Name a backup for each role, and tell the people you named.
What to bring to the first meeting
- The current recorded deed for your home, and any other real estate
- A list of accounts, retirement plans, and life insurance policies, with rough values
- The beneficiary form on file for each retirement account and policy
- Any will or trust you signed before, including amendments
- Names of the people you would trust as trustee, agent, and health care agent, with alternates
- Notes on prior marriages, children from other relationships, and anyone you want to provide for or exclude
Why families ask Fred to draft it
Fred Yadegar is a California attorney, State Bar #244184, licensed since 2006, and he drafts estate plans for families on both sides of the Los Angeles County and Orange County line. He also handles reviews of plans other people drafted and litigates contested trusts, so he sees which drafting choices end up in front of a judge and writes to avoid them. You meet with him, not with an assistant, and the deed gets recorded before the file is closed. Tell us what’s going on and we’ll explain your options and costs before you commit to anything.
Written and reviewed by Fred Yadegar, California attorney, State Bar #244184, licensed since 2006.
Questions about creating wills & trusts
It goes through probate. In Los Angeles County that typically means 9 to 18 months in court and statutory fees for the attorney and the executor calculated on the gross value of the estate, mortgage included (Prob. Code §10810). A funded living trust is what keeps the house out of that process.
Yes, and most people are. You keep full control while you are alive and able, and the successor trustee takes over only if you become incapacitated or die. You can change or revoke the trust whenever you like, as long as you have capacity.
A holographic will is valid without witnesses when its material provisions, and the signature, are in the testator's own hand (Prob. Code §6111). It still goes through probate, and handwritten wills invite disputes about what was meant, so we treat them as a stopgap rather than a plan.
Retitling assets so the trust, rather than you personally, holds them. For a home, that is a deed recorded with the county recorder; for accounts, a change of ownership or a pay-on-death designation. A trust that was signed but never funded avoids nothing.
Yes. The pour-over will catches anything left outside the trust at your death and directs it into the trust. It is a safety net for the overlooked asset, not a replacement for funding.
It names the person who makes medical decisions for you if you cannot and records your wishes about treatment (Prob. Code §4600 et seq.). Paired with a durable power of attorney for finances, it covers the period of incapacity that a will and trust alone do not.
Ready to keep your home out of probate court?
Tell us what's going on and we'll explain your options and costs before you commit to anything.
Contingency fee applies to injury and surplus-funds matters. Costs may be advanced and repaid from any recovery; ask us how it works in your case.