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Living Trust Package FAQs

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Our Living Trust Package is designed to be a fair, flexible and functional estate planning solution for California families that qualify. We are not the right fit for everyone, as we do not prepare documents for people with complicated tax or estate issues. For example, we do not prepare trust packages for married couples with a net worth that exceeds $2 million. Please take about 90 seconds and visit our living trust qualification page to determine whether our product is right for you.

For families that qualify, the CalDocs Living Trust Packages is a total solution at a fraction of the traditional price. Our documents are designed to:

  • help families avoid probate
  • provide for continuity of estate management after death or incapacity
  • provide a private alternative to conservatorship or guardianship proceedings
  • provide income tax, estate tax, gift tax and property tax planning flexibility (for married couples)
We have assembled a core set of estate planning documents to be executed together to accomplish these goals. The CalDocs Living Trust Package includes the following documents: These documents are designed to work together as a comprehensive package and should be executed together. We do not provide the documents on an individual basis since they will not work as they are intended. For example, the Durable Power of Attorney that is included in our Living Trust Package is designed to work with the Declaration of Trust and would not work with the other documents in the Will Package.

If you want to continue, proceed to our qualification page to see if a Living Trust Package is right for you. After that:

  1. Answer the Online Questionnaire and checkout (approximately 20-30 minutes)
  2. We will email an Adobe PDF file of the documents and instructions to you within one business day. For an additional $12.95, we will print out the documents for you, organize the documents for signing (by attaching sticky-flags to indicate where the documents need to be signed, notarized etc.) and ship them to you by USPS Priority Mail.
  3. After you receive your documents, you will need to check them for accuracy, and sign, date and notarize them. The Wills have to be witnessed by friends or neighbors (they cannot be witnessed by anyone related by blood or marriage). If you own real property, the Quitclaim Deed wil need to be recorded. If you do not feel comfortable filling-out the Quitclaim Deed form, please call us and we can refer you to a real estate attorney that will do it for $150 per deed (You will need to establish an attorney-client relationship for deed preparation.)

For more specific information on the tax aspects of living trusts, view the Living Trust Taxation FAQs.

Click on one of the FAQ's below to see the answer. Show all answers

  • What is probate and why do I want to avoid it?
    Probate is a court procedure to wrap-up the affairs of a somebody that dies. This includes properly transferring property to heirs, paying creditors and satisfying all taxes. In California, a person's estate only goes through probate if they die owning more than $100,000 in assets subject to probate.

    Probate sucks. A probate proceeding is costly and time consuming for your heirs. Probate fees for attorneys and personal representatives are set forth in California Probate Code Section 10800 and 10810. The fee schedules for each are summarized as follows:

    • 4% of the first 100K
    • 3% of the next 100K
    • 2% of the next 100k
    • 1% of the next 700k

    For Example:
    A California resident that dies owning a $500k home with a $400k mortgage (without a living trust), will be subject to $26,000 in probate fees ($13k to an attorney and $13k to a personal representative). After the home is sold and all expenses are paid, all the heirs can hope to receive is the remaining $74k in equity. In this case, attorneys and adminstrators would take more than a quarter of the inheritance.

    Assets held in your living trust are not subject to probate since a living trust cannot die. However, the death of the owner of a living trust will trigger provisions in the living trust to administer the estate properly, privately and without a probate court proceeding.

    For decedents with less than $100,000 in assets (based on gross value), heirs can utilize the small estate transfer procedure.

  • How will my assets be managed in my living trust?
    While you (and your spouse) are alive and of sound mind, you have complete control over the assets you put into the trust (the "Trust Estate"). If two physicians determine that you are incapacitated, the people you nominate to serve as your successor trustee(s) will manage the assets for your benefit. They do not have to petition the court for authority.

    After you (and your spouse) pass on, your successor trustees will settle your affairs. The successor trustee will manage the Trust Estate for your beneficiaries. If your beneficiaries are too young to manage the assets for themselves (you will specify the proper age), then the trustee will manage the assets for their benefit. This means that the trustee can pay for things that will benefit the "health, education, maintenance and support" of your beneficiaries. For example, a trustee can pay for your child's college education or medical bills. As your beneficiaries become old enough to manage some of the assets for themselves, the trustee(s) will distribute those assets to them.

    For Example:
    Donald prepares a CalDocs trust and specifies that his beneficiaries will receive one-half of their inheritance when they reach age 25 and one-half at age 30. Donald dies leaving Huey (30), Dewey (25) and Louie (18) as his sole beneficiaries, each entitled to 1/3 of the Trust Estate. The trustee will distribute Huey's entire share to him. Dewey will receive one-half of his share and the trustee will hold the other half for Dewey's benefit. The trustee will hold all of Louie's share, but will pay Louie's tuition and board at college from Louie's share. Since Louie is not mature enough to manage the funds, this restriction will prevent him from squandering it.

  • Can I change the documents after I sign them?
    You can change, amend, terminate or revoke the documents at anytime as long as you are of sound mind.
  • The price seems really low, are there any hidden fees?
    No, we practice up-front pricing:
    Living Trust Package - Married Couple$299.95
    Living Trust Package - Single Individual$199.95
    The optional services that we offer are:
    Print & Ship Documents via Priority Mail$12.95
    Estate Planning Portfolio$59.95
  • Other companies offer "free revisions for one year", do you?
    No. If you plan on revising your documents within a year after creating them, you probably deserve the specialized attention of an attorney and a CalDocs package is not for you. If you are a young family and you are concerned that the documents may become outdated quickly, you should know that our documents are designed to be flexible enough to deal with the birth or adoption of new children (assuming you want them to be equally included for inheritance purposes).
  • How do I specify my health decisions regarding life support, disposition of remains, organ donation, etc.?
    You will specify these decisions in the Advanced Health Care Directive when you sign your documents. In particular, you will place your initials on the lines that reflect your individual preferences. This document allows you to specify your healthcare wishes to avoid a "Terri Schiavo" scenario involving a prolonged legal battle over life-support.
  • Do you offer a Living Trust Package for couples involved in California domestic partnerships, civil unions or same-sex marriages?
    At this time, California law surrounding same-sex marriages, civil unions and domestic partnerships is changing rapidly. If you are involved in a same-sex marriage or domestic partnership, you should seek the advice of a California estate planning attorney with experience in structuring estate plans of this type. You can visit our referrals page for an attorney in your area that may be able to help you.
  • How will my family know that I signed my living trust?
    After you sign your documents, you will visit your banks and brokers to have your accounts transferred into the name of your living trust. Your statements will then reflect the new method of ownership. You will also do this for the real property you own using the quitclaim deed forms. Therefore, your successors will be able to tell from your records that you have a living trust.
  • We plan on having more children, should we wait to do a trust?
    The CalDocs living trust that we offer for individuals and married couples with children provides that everything will be divided into equal shares, by right of representation. The documents include children that are born to or adopted by the creators of the trust after the trust is signed.
  • Do we need to nominate guardians for our minor children? Won't our childrens' godparents take custody of them?
    A "Godparent" is not a legally enforceable relationship that bears any rights under the law. The general rule is that the court will determine guardianship in the best interest of the child. In the case where a child is orphaned and no guardianship provisions are specified by the parents, the next-of-kin will, in general, have the highest priority. All of our packages include free guardianship provisions for minor children, which are specified in each individual's Will.
  • Great site, great service! Do you offer corporate documents, LLC's or any other documents?
    Sorry, we only prepare estate planning documents. You might try LegalZoom.com™ or one of the lawyers on our referral list if you need documents that we don't offer.