Thank you for watching my YouTube video. If you found it helpful please consider subscribing. I’ve been an estate planning lawyer for over 13 years. I would never reccomend anyone download a template and fill in their names as a practical way to plan an estate. I’ve have seen many estates go wrong but people tryin g to “do it themselves.” Sometimes you type something that is ambiguous, or has an unintended consequence (like a property tax reassessment). Sometimes there is solution to a problem you do not even know exists. That is why it is really important to hire an experienced lawyer when doing your living trust or any kind of estate planning. If you live in California, I’d be happy to help (you can fill out the contact form at the bottom of this page and we will give you a call).
All that said, I know that not everyone can afford a lawyer. But everyone needs an estate plan. One way or the other, you will die, and you will have an estate. For those of you who absolutely cannot afford a lawyer or are in a kind of emergency situation, these templates are here to help, but are no substitute for real legal advice. In fact, I do not review these templates to be sure they are updated. Instead, they are very basic trust templates that can help those who truly need it.
I highly reccomend calling a lawyer near you to engage in estate planning.
Once again I must remind you that this is not legal advice, and nothing about downloading any of these forms creates any kind of lawyer-client relationship with me or my firm. If you want me to be your lawyer, and live in California, we need to meet, you need to retained me, and you need to pay me.
If you down load these forms and do not fill them correctly or clearly, you could end up spending more to fix the mess that you would have by hiring me in the first place. There is a risk that your estate will end up in probate, your heirs or beneficiaries will sue, your property could be reassessed, you could lose important estate tax benefits, your could lose a step up in basis on your home causing your surviving spouse or children to pay more in capital gains taxes. In other words:
Use these forms at your own risk!
Now, with those disclaimers and formalities out of the way, here are the template forms I discussed in the video.
Single Person’s Trust w/ No Kids
I you want to track your answers with the same sheet I used in the video click HERE.
