Estate Planning Resources for California Families
Free guides, a California probate cost calculator, and educational articles to help you understand estate planning before you commit to anything.
Estate Planning Glossary
Learn with Confidence
Free California Estate Planning Resources & Guides
This glossary is intended to provide clarity on the most commonly misunderstood / used terms in California estate planning.
Funding a trust
The process of legally re-titling assets, real estate, bank accounts, investment accounts, into the name of a trust. A trust only avoids probate for assets that have actually been funded into it; anything left in your individual name still has to go through probate, even if you have a signed trust document.
Trustee vs. Executor
A trustee manages and distributes assets held in a trust, according to the trust's terms, without court supervision.
An executor (sometimes called a personal representative) is appointed by a probate court to manage and distribute assets governed by a will, under the court's ongoing supervision. A trust never needs an executor; a will always requires probate and an executor.
Conservatorship vs. Power of Attorney
A power of attorney is a document you sign while you have capacity, naming someone to make financial or medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to. A conservatorship is a court process that appoints someone to make those decisions for you, used when no valid power of attorney exists and a person can no longer manage their own affairs. A well-drafted power of attorney is generally what allows a family to avoid the time and cost of a conservatorship proceeding.
Intestate / Intestacy
The legal term for dying without a valid will or trust. When someone dies intestate, California's intestacy statutes, not the person's wishes, determine who inherits, and the estate must go through probate.
Revocable vs. Irrevocable Trust
A revocable living trust can be changed or dissolved by its creator at any time while they're alive and have capacity, this is what most people mean by "a living trust" in estate planning. An irrevocable trust generally cannot be changed once created, and is typically used for more specific goals like asset protection, Medicaid planning, or reducing estate tax exposure.
Community Property (California)
Property acquired by a married couple during the marriage, generally owned equally by both spouses regardless of whose income purchased it. Property owned before marriage, or received individually as a gift or inheritance during the marriage, is generally treated as separate property, not community property, unless it's been mixed with shared marital funds in a way that changes its character.
Probate
The court-supervised legal process of validating a will (or applying intestacy law if there's no will), paying debts, and distributing a deceased person's assets. In California, probate commonly takes 9 to 18 months and involves statutory fees set by law, in addition to court costs.
START WITH CLARITY
Estate planning does not need to feel overwhelming.
Understand your situation - Answer initial questions - Determine the right next step