A: You're in luck! California's Revocable Transfer on Death Deed (RTODD) offers a cost-effective shortcut to leave your home directly to your heirs, bypassing the expensive and lengthy probate process. Depending on the individual circumstances of each client, this...
A: No! Under recent law changes, the TOD deed now needs to be both notarized and witnessed by two disinterested parties (the Notary Public may act as one of the witnesses). Moreover, in order to be valid, the TOD deed must be recorded within 60 days of the...
A: Yes, you can! In California, two individuals can take title to real property as tenants-in-common, and in whichever percentages the owners agree on. For example, your sister could own an 80% interest as a tenant-in-common while you own a 20% interest as a...
A: We would only recommend the use of the revocable transfer on death (TOD Deed) if you would like to leave your house in equal shares to all of your children, and none of your children have any spendthrift issues and/or special needs considerations (remember, title...
A: Unfortunately, your aunt now owns that duplex. By operation of law, when your father died, the surviving joint tenant automatically owned the entire duplex, which meant that the will had no legal effect over the disposition of your father's interest in the duplex....
A: Fortunately, if the cars are registered with the California DMV, you will not have to do anything to change or update the pink slips. Specifically, this little perk is brought to us by Probate Code Section 13050(b)(1), which excludes any such cars from a decedent's...
A: Yes! Assuming your mother didn't have any other probatable assets, you and your sister can file with the court a Form DE-305 in the County where the land is located to have the property title transferred without probate.
A: You should take title to your new home in the same way that you hold title to your current home - as trustee of your trust. This will ensure that your new home is a trust asset and that it is not at risk of going through probate to be administered after your death....
A: Yes you do! This is what we estate planning attorneys refer to as "trust funding". In this case, you will need to make sure you sign and record a new grant deed showing your trust as the owner of the property! And remember, if you forget to do this, your...
A: Although there may certainly be situations in which the use of a TOD Deed are appropriate, there are many potential pitfalls to be aware of: 1: TOD Deeds can only be used to transfer certain types of property: a) one to four residential dwelling units or...
