Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: Modify a Living Trust

DO NOT DO THAT.

First of all, a trust should not be modified in that way. You need to follow a specific formula of creating a trust amendment. The trust itself will most likely explain that formula. I strongly recommend speaking to the attorney who drafted the trust, or another if they are not available. You might wind up invalidating the trust if you attempt to modify it yourself, or more likely your changes will have no significance.

Second of all, if you created your Trust in 1994, it very likely needs to be completely re-written. Such documents need to be reviewed and changed periodically, to take account of the changes in laws, tax codes, and your situation. Since 1994, there has been a complete overhaul of the Estate Tax Code, not to mention changes in Advanced Health Care Directives, medical privacy laws and various state probate rules.

I don't mean to scare you, but attempting to make these changes themselves is what causes a lot of estates to get pulled back into probate court. It is one of those things that it is better to pay someone a little now then a lot in the future.

Re: Modify a Living Trust

Yes you can. There is not legal requirement for notarization, but it's always a good idea to assure the validity of your signature for the future. Given the date of your trust, and assuming you have a Healthcare Power, it should be redone to be made HIPAA Compliant. You can download a form from one of my websites, www.yourlivinglegacy.info