Tustin Estate Planning Attorney

Plan for your family’s future with the help of our Estate Planning Lawyer
Get Started Today!
Plan for and protect the future of your loved ones.
Get Started Today!
Plan and protect your loved ones' future.

Demographics of Tustin, California 

Tustin has a top 10% ranking in start-ups and sole proprietorships per capita and offers one of the shortest commutes in Southern California. For this reason, the city was chosen by Forbes in 2009 as one of the top 25 towns to live well in the nation. 

As of the most recent Census, Tustin has a population of 75,540. 99.3% of the population lives in households with there being over 25,000 households in the city. Out of these households, 41.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them, and over half were opposite-sex married couples living together.

Meanwhile, 13.9% were women homeowners with no husband, and 5.8 had a male homeowner with no wife. The average household size was 2-3 people. There are about 18,000 families with an average family size being 3-4 people. 

The average age for Tustin residents is 34.6. 

Tustin has a median household income of $74,011. The most common types of jobs are Office and Administrative Support, Management, and Sales and Related Occupations. Other common jobs include computer and mathematical occupations, legal occupations, and business and financial operations. 

Providing for Your Family with an Estate Plan

When you create an estate plan, it’s really for the benefit of your loved ones. If you have a clear, legally-established plan in place before your death, they will be able to grieve without the added stress of legal issues and emotional conflict with other relatives over your estate. 

Your estate provides a written, legal record of your final wishes. The focus is on finances, but you can also detail other wishes, like burial plans.

Anyone who dies without a will is considered intestate, and the courts will settle their estate according to local law. The law may not align with what your plans were for your assets. Aside from that, probate court can take a lot of time. It isn’t uncommon for relatives you have never spoken to 

The court will also make decisions about any children you have under 18, if the other parent is also deceased or unavailable. If you do have an estate plan, you can designate a guardian you trust to care for your children. 

If you have a will with clear instructions, you can save your family a lot of stress. They won’t need to worry about legal fees and additional stress as they settle your affairs. Instead, they will know what to expect and be able to follow the plan. 

An estate plan allows you to make preparations to support your family financially even after your death. Trusts can help you create college funds for young children and avoid excessive taxes on your estate. With an attorney’s help, you can create a plan that makes the most of your finances and benefits your loved ones.

Getting Started with Estate Planning

If you are below retirement age, you may not have given any serious thought to estate planning. No matter your age, there are steps you can take to begin planning your estate.

Even though it may not seem like an immediate concern, estate planning benefits your family and helps you take care of them financially even in the event of your death.

You can get started planning your estate today. Before you create any legal documents or contact a Tustin estate planning attorney, you can make a list of your significant assets. 

This should include real estate, vehicles, valuable items like artwork or collectibles, cash, and bank accounts. Making an inventory like this will make it easier to keep track of your assets and make plans for all of them.

After you have a thorough list, you can decide how to best distribute those assets to provide for your family. This process can vary depending on the size of your family, the age of your children, and your marriage status. A professional can help you make the financial decisions that will most benefit your loved ones.

Another important step is to decide on your beneficiaries. You may need to update beneficiaries of your bank accounts or trusts. You can also note more specific examples of items you want to leave to people, such as giving a friend your coin collection. 

Making these decisions will get you in the right mindset to meet with an attorney and file the necessary legal paperwork.

What Should Your Estate Plan Include?

Every estate plan should be catered to a specific family and financial situation, so there will be variation between different people. These are some of the documents most commonly found in estate plans. 

Your will is vital to any estate plan, and this is normally where your plan will start. This is a legal guide for the executor of your estate, and it should include details on distribution of your assets. It might even include personal information about your final wishes, and funeral requests. 

Trusts provide a way to hold assets the way you would hold money in a bank account. They provide an easy transfer between you and your beneficiaries, and they let you avoid probate. Revocable living trusts are popular in estate planning, because they allow for changes. 

Revocable trusts also let you keep control over the assets in the trust until your death. At that point, the beneficiaries will gain access to the trust, unless you have added stipulations or conditions. 

The ability to restrict access to a trust based on certain conditions can be a benefit. For example, you might restrict access until the beneficiary reaches a certain age, or only allow access if they are enrolled in college.

Many estate plans include documents outlining health directives. These should be added to your medical files, and they will dictate the healthcare you receive if you are unable to make decisions for yourself. For example, you may request a Do Not Resuscitate directive, donate your body to science, or mark yourself as an organ donor. 

Your plan may also include a designated power of attorney. Your POA should be a trusted person who will act in your best interest. The POA will make decisions on your behalf when you are unable to. 

Some POAs are limited to a specific field, like finances or healthcare. Others provide general control over your affairs. 

How Often Should You Update Your Estate Plan?

If you have already started planning for your estate, it may be time to make some changes to your existing plan. Here are some situations in which you should update your legal documents. 

When your family has some significant changes, you may need to update paperwork to reflect those changes. Whether it’s a divorce, marriage, or a death, it’s important to have an estate plan that reflects your current family and beneficiaries. 

Local laws may change suddenly, and that could affect large portions of your plan. Whether the laws regard taxes, trusts, or something else, it’s important to have an attorney help you update your documents as soon as possible. 

If you move states, you should update your plan as soon as possible. The laws and specific paperwork may be different, rendering your estate plan invalid. A local attorney can help you make the adjustments necessary and file new paperwork. 

A legally void or incorrect estate plan could cause problems after your death, so it’s important to keep things updated. Experts recommend refreshing your estate plan every five years or so. 

Creating an Estate Plan with our Tustin Living Trust Attorney

With the average family size being 3-4 people, this typically means that there is at least one child per family. It’s important that families begin to take control of their future, and the first step is by working with an experienced Tustin wills and trust attorney. 

Estate Planning

Estate planning is essentially creating a plan for the transfer of your property and assets after your death. Your estate consists of all the property you own.

While many people believe that estate planning should only happen after you retire or when faced with a terminal illness or injury, the reality is that an accident or other situation can arise without warning. The prudent thing is to have the documents in place before they are needed.

Estate planning is best done by an experienced estate planning lawyer in Tustin while you’re legally competent and in good mental health.  Your estate plans should be reviewed and updated throughout your life.

Wills and Trusts

Tustin living trust lawyer can help you make a plan catered to your individual needs to determine who will inherit from you and who will settle your affairs when you’ve passed away.

If you don’t work with a Tustin wills attorney or create a written will or trust, your estate will go through probate where the court will decide who inherits your property. 

A Tustin wills lawyer will help you ensure that your family is taken care of and won’t have to go through a draining probate process. 

Probate Law

If you own your home or any other real estate or have more than $150,000 in assets, your estate will be subject to probate if you do not have a will or trust. Probate will determine who is the rightful heir to your estate.

Instead of letting the courts decide for you, it’s best to ensure your family’s future without you by working with a Tustin probate attorney who can help you ensure who inherits your property. 

However, if you’re already going through a probate process or will soon, you need the help of experienced Tustin probate lawyers that can help expedite the process through the court system. 

Trust Administration

Trustees typically have a lot of responsibilities after someone has passed away. An experienced trust administration lawyer in Tustin, CA can help guide the trustee through the process and assist with collecting the assets and distribution.  

Contact Us

If you have any questions and would like to make an appointment for a consultation, fill out the form and we will get in touch with you shortly.
logo
Estate Planning Attorney in Orange County, CA
Wills & Trusts, Estate & Trust Administration, Probate, and Health Care Power of Attorney
© 2024 Estate And Trust Lawyer. All Rights Reserved.