What is a living trust and how does it work?

A living trust is a legal document that allows you to plan for the future of your estate. It is a way for you to designate who will receive your assets after you pass away and how those assets should be distributed. It is also used to avoid probate, which is the lengthy and expensive process of transferring a deceased person’s assets to beneficiaries. When setting up a living trust, you are known as the “grantor” or “settlor” and you are the one who designates how the trust should be managed. You can also delegate someone as the “trustee” whose job it is to manage the trust and make sure that your wishes are carried out when you are no longer living. You can also assign a “beneficiary” who will receive the assets when the trust is activated. Once the trust is created, the grantor can transfer their assets into the trust. When they die, the trustee can then distribute the assets according to the instructions written in the trust document. Because the trust is already established, the assets can be able to transfer to the beneficiaries faster and more efficiently than if it had to go through the probate process. Living trusts are an important tool for estate planning in California, as they allow you to control how your assets will be distributed when you pass away. They also help reduce the cost and time of transferring assets to beneficiaries and can help protect the privacy of your beneficiaries.

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