Husband Wife With One

At the time of your death, the assets in your family trust are protected by the exemption, and the assets in your marital trust are protected by the marital deduction. No estate taxes are due.

In California, surviving spouses already receive all of the community property upon the death of their spouse.However, creating a joint will is still an option in California, and while it might help a couple save some time and money on their estate plan, it can also lead to some complex problems.

Joint trusts are easier to fund and maintain.In a joint trust, after the death of the first spouse, the surviving spouse has complete control of the assets. When separate trusts are used, the deceased spouses' trust becomes irrevocable and the surviving spouse has limited control over assets.

Separate trusts provide more flexibility in the event of a death in the marriage. Since the trust property is already divided, separate trusts preserve the surviving spouse's ability to amend or revoke assets held within their own trust, while ensuring that the deceased spouse's trust cannot be amended after death.

With a shared trust, property left by one grantor to the survivor stays in the living trust when the first grantor dies; no transfer is necessary.You can transfer all of it to the trust, and each spouse can name beneficiaries (including each other) to receive his or her separate property.

Typically, when a married couple utilizes a Revocable Living Trust based estate plan, each spouse creates and funds his or her own separate Revocable Living Trust. This results in two trusts. However, in the right circumstances, a married couple may be better served by creating a single Joint Trust.

A marital trust allows the couple's heirs to avoid probate and take less of a hit from estate taxes by taking full advantage of the unlimited marital deductiona provision that enables spouses to pass assets to each other without tax consequences.

Q: Can a person have more than one trust? A: Yes, it is not that uncommon for a person to be the beneficiary of multiple trusts. However, caution should be used. Trusts come in many shapes and sizes and can serve multiple purposes and can be established by you or by someone else for your benefit.

Separate trusts may offer better protection from creditors, if this is a concern. For example, at the death of the first spouse, the deceased spouse's trust becomes irrevocable, which makes it harder to access by creditors. And yet the surviving spouse can still access it for income and other needs.