Utah Living Revocable

Under California law, a marriage automatically invalidates any pre-existing will or trust as to the new spouse's inheritance rights, unless the documents provide for a new spouse, or clearly indicate a new spouse will receive nothing.

Under California law, a marriage automatically invalidates any pre-existing will or trust as to the new spouse's inheritance rights, unless the documents provide for a new spouse, or clearly indicate a new spouse will receive nothing.

Without a living trust, our estate (everything we own) would go to probate. Probate is where the courts oversee having all of your affairs wrapped up after you die. As with all things governmental, probate can take a while, so your assets would be inaccessible for a time.

A "living trust" (also called an "inter vivos" trust by lawyers who can't give up Latin) is simply a trust you create while you're alive, rather than one that is created at your death under the terms of your will. The beneficiaries you name in your living trust receive the trust property when you die.

California is a community property state, which means that following the death of a spouse, the surviving spouse will have entitlement to one-half of the community property (i.e., property that was acquired over the course of the marriage, regardless of which spouse acquired it).

Many married couples own most of their assets jointly with the right of survivorship. When one spouse dies, the surviving spouse automatically receives complete ownership of the property. This distribution cannot be changed by Will.

This law states that no matter what your will says, your spouse has a right to inherit one-third or one-half (depending on the state and sometimes depending on the length of the marriage) of your total estate. To exercise this right, your spouse has to petition the probate court to enforce the law.

The Spouse Is the Automatic Beneficiary for Married People A federal law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), governs most pensions and retirement accounts.

Most married couples own most of their assets jointly. Assets owned jointly between husband and wife pass automatically to the survivor.This requires the will to be probated and an executor to be appointed in order to secure the assets. There are exceptions to the probate requirement for estates of $50,000 or less.