What Is Probate?
Probate is the court procedure used to verify the validity of a will and to distribute a decedent's property after their death. In California, an estate in excess of $184,500 must be “probated” whether or not there is a valid will.
Do You Need a Trust?
You probably recognize that you will eventually need a will. You might already have one that you drafted when you became a parent or faced a brush with mortality or the loss of a loved one. We’ll explore wills in greater depth in another post, but here we’d like to zero in on arguably the most essential—and confusing—component of California estate planning: the trust.