California residents are urged to set up a trust to handle the distribution of their assets after they pass. But all too few people are aware that you should also have a will in place. These are two documents that are supplementary to each other rather than mutually exclusive. Because too few people know this, conflicts can sometimes arise.
Contradictions can lead to intense litigation
Trust litigation can arise in cases where a person has set up one or both documents without taking steps to reconcile their contents. A revocable trust may have been set up in order to handle the issue of who will receive the assets that have been named in the document. A trustee will also be named at this point.
A will is a document that lists all of the various wishes that you desire to be carried out after you pass away. But it’s crucial to keep in mind that a will has no inherent power to decide who actually receives your assets. However, when taken together, wills and trusts can lay out your wishes and specify who gets what and when.
Issues between wills and trust can be resolved
Living trusts and wills are documents that handle separate areas. It’s easy to get them mixed up to the point where you may think you only need one but not the other. This is a misconception that has been the source of a great deal of contentious litigation.
When there is a conflict between the two documents, a trust will usually take greater precedence. This is because they become operative at the time that you pass away. It’s important to make sure that the details of your will and trust are in harmony. This will prevent costly posthumous conflicts from occurring.