Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Sure, you are allowed to give your own property to any one you want [community property is different as the spouse owns half of it]. You can use either a Trust or a Will; for safety sake mention that you know you have the following kin [state their names] but have decided not to give it to any of your kin, including those not directly named in the instrument [to protect against later born children, marriages, etc.]. If the only thing involved is the property you should be able to get an attorney to handle everything for maybe $600 [talking to you, telling you the advantages and disadvantages of a Trust vs. a Will, drawing up the instrument, transferring the property to the Trust]. You can name the beneficiary of the trust or Will as the trustee or administrator to reduce costs. You should also read the Nolo Press books available at the Library to know what questions to ask.

Yes, each of you can leave the property to whomever you want. However, appropriate formalities have to be followed if you do a will and/or trust.

An estate plan might be appropriate with a will, trust, powers of attorney for healthcare and property if you become incapacitated.

I would be happy to discuss your options.

Beware of doing it yourself as there are serious pitfalls for those doing these on your own.

Caleb

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The Probate Code deals extensively and sometimes confusingly with simultaneous death (as in "if we pass away") and the two of you should be aware that the results of simultaneous death will not be the same as if X clearly dies before Y, nor if Y clearly dies before X. Three very different outcomes! See Probate Code section 220 et seq. if interested in the technicalities. When you talk to an estate-planning attorney, which is my recommendation, keep in mind these three results and be sure your plan takes into account all three.

A second area that could have a major effect on the results of the death of X or Y is how title to the properties is held. As you may already know, holding title as joint tenants creates a right of survivorship, and upon the death of co-owner X, co-owner Y automatically becomes the sole owner and any contrary provision in X's will is ineffective to transfer any title. So, holding title as joint tenants (as opposed to, say, tenants in common) requires different handling in estate plans.

Finally, an estate planning attorney should discuss the tax aspects of various ways of holding title and disposing of property to heirs. Often, holding property as joint tenants is not the best approach from the standpoint of minimizing future taxes