Handling Trusts
One of the more complex financial aspects to handle is revocable trusts. These are also known as living trusts. Once you have gone through an Orange County divorce drafting your trusts will need number of other considerations, since it involves a number of issues such as having to amend the trustee powers or to amend beneficiaries making sure that you eliminate the former spouse.
Other trusts that may be a tough nut to manage and get amended are:
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
- Charitable Trusts
- Qualified Personal Residence Trusts
These trusts are difficult to amend primarily because they are created to ensure an irrevocable election, designed to benefit both of the spouses. Even after you have gained an Orange County divorce it will be hard for you change the irrevocable election since it would abstain you form enjoying most of its tax benefits. For this you’ll need to work closely with the trustees to make sure things can be worked out.
Who should you leave your estate to after divorce?
The process of handling and clearing outdated documents can often be time consuming. Even once you have gone through with them, the newly divorced spouse has another problem facing them. Who should they choose as an heir to their estate? If your Orange County divorce has adult children involved, the issues of a desired heir will easily be solved. Yet if you have minor children involved in the divorce, leaving your estate to them can pose a problem.
What if you leave assets to minor children?
Typically irrespective of a parent has gone through an Orange County divorce or not, a parent usually wants to leave their estate to their minor children. Unfortunately for that, if the parent passes away with the estate to minor children, the court will appoint a guardian on their own who’ll have the power to dispose and oversee assets.
This can cause a number of difficulties. The court will appoint a guardian who is in the best interest of the child. This guardian could be the ex spouse especially if the children are attached to the ex spouse. This could ultimately mean that the property and the estate would fall to the ex spouses at least until the children come of age.
To make sure the spouse you have gone through an Orange County divorce with is not the owner of your property you need to assign a guardian to ensure the safety of your estate until your children come of age.
Gerald A. Maggio is an experienced Orange County divorce and family law attorney and family law attorney located in Irvine, California, serving the Orange County and Riverside areas. Mr. Maggio assists clients with legal issues including divorce, legal separation, divorce mediation, child custody, prenuptial agreements, stepparent adoptions, and other family law issues. Mr. Maggio has practiced law in California since 1999, and founded The Maggio Law Firm in 2005, focusing exclusively on divorce and family law matters.
