Trust & Estate Planning 101

Trust and Estate Planning Blog

If something unexpected were to happen to you, would your loved ones need to deal with probate? If so, then you should focus on putting a trust in place and doing some estate planning. We recently caught up with local attorney Jennifer Sawday, a partner at TLD Law, for a webinar on Trust & Estate Planning 101.

In case you missed it, here’s a replay:

Recap of Our Estate Planning Interview

There are four essential estate planning documents, Jennifer Sawday reviewed:

  1. Revocable Living Trust and Schedule “A”
  2. Pour-over Will
  3. Durable Power of Attorney
  4. Advanced Health Care Directive

The important thing is to plan ahead so that you get to decide who’s in charge if something happens to you.

The Revocable Living Trust allows those you leave behind to avoid the time and expense of probate. You decide on your successor trustee, where things will go, and control how things will be distributed to your beneficiaries.

The pour-over will directs the distribution of any assets that you acquired but didn’t have a chance to put in your trust or name a beneficiary back to your trust.

The durable power of attorney designates who will make financial decisions for you in the event you become incapacitated.

And the advance health care directive allows you to specify your wishes for future medical decisions, funeral / burial / cremation, life support, and organ donation in case you need assistance with medical decision making or for disposition of your remains.

Probate is costly and lengthy, and estate planning helps you make sure that those you leave behind don’t have to go through that.

If you have questions about creating a trust, you can contact Jennifer Sawday at [email protected].

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About the Author
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Shannon Jones has been selling real estate since 1998 and specializes in listing and marketing homes. She has consistently been one of the top Realtors in the Long Beach area. Prior to her award-winning career in real estate with the Shannon jones Team, Shannon has had successful careers in journalism and public relations. She holds a bachelors degree from UC Irvine and a masters degree from UC Berkeley. Shannon holds E-Pro, CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Expert), and PSC (Pre-Foreclosure Specialist) certifications. Shannon is very personable and maintains a very strong moral compass, always putting the best interest of home buyers/sellers above monetary goals. A California native, Shannon enjoys gardening, travel, reading, cooking and poker when she’s not selling homes MY DESIGNATIONS Lic# 01247705 | CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Expert) | E-Pro | PSC (Pre-Foreclosure Specialist) MY SERVICE AREAS Anaheim Bellflower Buena Park Carson Cerritos Cypress Downey Fountain Valley Garden Grove Huntington Beach La Palma Lakewood Long Beach Los Alamitos Los Angeles County Norwalk Orange County Rossmoor San Pedro Seal Beach Signal Hill South Bay Westminster