Dealing with the loss of a loved one is a challenging time. The last thing you want to do is worry about dealing with the deceased’s estate and trust. Fortunately, the compassionate trust attorneys at Von Rock Law are here to ensure your interests are upheld in terms of the decedent’s trust so that you can focus on healing and overcoming this significant loss.
Trust administration is a crucial step of the estate planning process. It’s vital to have a proper estate plan and a revocable trust. Once you’ve done this, it’s critical to administer the established trust. At Von Rock Law in Oakland, CA, our trust attorney is here to assist with the following steps in the trust administration process:
Once the trust maker passes away, the trustee is responsible for contacting the relevant beneficiaries and heirs and informing them of the trust maker’s death. To do this, the trustee will send out a notification to the necessary parties. After this, the beneficiaries and heirs will have four months to contest the trust’s validity.
A Tax Identification Number, also known as a TIN, must be obtained to re-title the trust accounts. A TIN is also necessary when filing an income tax return.
The trustee is responsible for ensuring all assets included in the trust are in the name of the trust and belong to the deceased person. Problems often arise during this stage of the process, so it’s crucial to work with an experienced trust attorney who knows what action to take.
An appraisal assists the trustee in determining how much the relevant beneficiaries should achieve. This is crucial for tax purposes as well.
There are several forms you need to submit to the assessor’s office upon the death of a person. Our legal experts will ensure all necessary documents are prepared and submitted in compliance with the law to avoid property taxes or fines.
Before the distribution of the trust assets, our experienced attorneys will ensure the trustee pays all valid debts.
Lastly, our law firm ensures all the assets are appropriately distributed by creating a trust distribution agreement that clearly outlines who is entitled to what assets.
Probate refers to the process of administering the deceased’s estate. Our probate attorney will assist beneficiaries in settling the affairs of the deceased. During this process, our lawyers will review the decedent’s will to ensure it has not been tampered with; however, if no will was created, we’ll use state family law to distribute the assets.
We understand that this can be a challenging process, which is why our trust attorney in Oakland, CA, will do their best to make the process as quick and painless as possible.
We have years of experience with California trust law at Von Rock Law. Therefore, you can count on our legal experts to handle your case professionally and ensure it complies with the necessary legislation. Contact us today at (866) 720-0195 for a free consultation.
In short, yes. Death is unavoidable. An estate plan protects not only your family and assets, but will also give you peace of mind that your assets will be properly managed when you are gone.
An estate plan created by Von Rock Law is a solution to protecting and preserving your estate in the case that you die or become incapacitated. It contains the following legal documents:
A legal document that places some or all of your assets in the control of a trust during your lifetime
A legal declaration of a person’s wishes regarding the disposal of their property or estate after death
A durable power of attorney refers to a power of attorney which typically remains in effect until the death of the principal or until the document is revoked. A durable power of attorney, the durability of which must be explicitly stated, remains valid even in the event the principal is unable to make personal decisions due to incapacity.
A legal document that explains how you want medical decisions about you to be made if you cannot make the decisions yourself. An advance directive lets your health care team and loved ones know what kind of health care you want, or who you want to make decisions for you when you can’t.
An estate plan not only ensures your family and assets are protected in the case you die or become incapacitated, but it also helps your estate avoid being subjected to probate, a long and costly process.
Our Custom Estate Plan is a comprehensive trust-based estate plan which is appropriate for most estates including those with minor children or other minor beneficiaries, for those requiring protections for beneficiaries and for blended families. This estate plan works toward eliminating probate court proceedings, appointing successors to manage the Trust after your death, and directs the distribution of your assets.
One 30 minute consultation meeting by telephone, video conference or in person
Revocable Living Trust
Certification of Living Trust
Last Will & Testament **
Durable Power of Attorney **
Advanced Health Care Directive **
Authorization of Release of Medical Records (“HIPAA”) **
Assignment of Personal Property **
Personal Property Memorandum **
Trust Transfer Deed (one property)
Recording Deed with county recorder
One opportunity to request edits to above documents with respect to client-provided information
Recording fees included
Preliminary Change of Ownership Report
Final signing meeting
Complete instructions regarding plan
Notary fees included
Personalized estate planning binder with all original documents
Digital PDF copies of your entire plan
Additional Deeds with ancillary documents and recording fees begin at $1000 for California properties and for out of state US properties, subject to confirmation of non-California recording fees.
Up to five hours with our staff for emails, phone calls, zooms or in person meetings to address your questions regarding the maintenance of your estate plan, funding, coordination with agents, potential amendments, family meetings or other ongoing trust maintenance concerns.
A 5% discount on billable matters for which you may further retain us, such as drafting additional plan documents and amendments, or for another practice area.
Deluxe custom estate plans are appropriate for individuals with substantial assets and sophisticated planning needs, and who require estate tax planning features for estates exceeding the estate tax threshold of $12,060,000 for individuals or $24,120,000 in community property for married couples. These plans include all of the offerings of the Custom Estate plan, but will also address such circumstances such as complicated blended families, citizenship issues, multiple real estate holdings, multiple beneficiary designations, integrated special needs trusts, or otherwise more sophisticated distribution plans.
We are offer a college care plan that will allow parents to still be able to act for their 18+ children for medical, financial and legal purposes, and to distribute the child’s assets should the child pre-decease the parent. This plan includes a Durable Power of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directive, HIPAA and Simple Will which identifies not more than two beneficiaries with outright inheritance. Further, this plan includes a generic FERPA Consent Form that will authorize parents to communicate with a college regarding the student’s classes, transcripts, grades and more. Many educational institutions will have their own forms for this Consent which may be required, but if not, our standard form should be accepted.
This plan includes a 30 minute consultation and the cost of online notary fees arranged by this office. Digital and paper copies of the plan documents will be provided.
Estate Plan revisions are provided on an hourly basis and estimates of the projected cost are provided to the client before work commences. Simple revisions to Estate Plans are often in the 2 – 3 hour range, with more complex revisions taking longer, bearing in mind that each circumstance is unique.
PLEASE NOTE – We will not amend plans that we did not draft. We will prepare re-statements of Trusts and new documents for planning documents we did not generate.