Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Do yourself a favor and don't use a form you order from an online website. Many of them are scams, and you deprive yourself of the ability to sue for legal malpractice by using non lawyer help.

The form you are describing already sounds suspicious, because you are mentioning getting it notarized. Wills are not notarized, they are attested, and if not properly attested they are invalid. Trusts are only notarized if they are going to be recorded, which is rare.

I advise everyone to use a competent estate planning attorney. It may seem expensive, but you are really saving money in the long run.

Hi Jan, I agree with Mr. Roach. Although Rocket Lawyer is somewhat well-known, if you are going to make the wise decision to have any documents reviewed by a lawyer, why not have the attorney draft your documents in the first place. You might be surprised at the affordability of attorney-drafted trusts and estate planning documents. As has been said, it may be be more expensive than your online forms, but it is money well spent. Most estate planning attorneys can give you examples of have to probate an estate where Probate became necessary because the trusts were so poorly drafted that there was no alternative. All the advantages of a trust simply do not exist if it is not done correctly.

A pour-over will is almost always used in conjunction with a trust. It is drafted differently from a simple, stand alone will. As with the trust document itself, it is important that the pour over will is correctly drafted. As Mr. Roach states, wills are attested to by independent witnesses.

Trusts are not required to be notarized. There are circumstances in which attorneys will recommend notarization of the trust. For example, it is sometimes beneficial to notarize the signatures of elderly trustors or trustors suffering from medical conditions that have altered or diminished their usual signature.

I agree with the above statements. You should probably seek an estate attorney if you are looking at creating a Trust. While these trusts may be good for some, they are very cookie cutter and may not take your best interests into account.

I agree with all of the abover lawyers; involve an estate planning attorney from the outset to create your estate plan consisting of trust and supporting documents; an ounce of prevention is better than a pund of cure.