Title: May 9, 2007
Q. What’s the difference between a living will and a living trust?
A. A living will is a document that spells out last wishes as far as should anything happen that makes one unable to make health care decisions, another can make such decisions in his/her place. The case of Terry Schiavo, the woman whose life was in limbo for some 15 or 20 years while her husband wanted her to be let die in peace and her parents wanted to keep her alive made it all the way to the Supreme Court. I believe she had an accident that left her in a coma. When it happened, she was a young woman. Most people in their twenties do not have a living will, because they do not think of death at their age. Unfortunately, life happens and so does death and life in between. On the other hand, a Living Trust is a document that is set up by a trustor who transfers his real estate and personal estate into an entity called “A revocable Living Trust”. Revocable means it can be changed during the life of the trustor. The property transferred into a Living Trust is managed by a trustee, who can also be the trustor. The trustor must name a successor trustee if he is also acting as the original trustee. At the trustor’s death, all the property that was transferred into the living trust then goes to the beneficiaries. It is the successor trustee’s job to make the transfer smooth. By setting up a Living Trust, the estate of the deceased need not go through Probate, a sometime very long court process that can be very costly. Depending on the complexity of the living trust, it can cost anywhere from $1500 to $5000, or more. The initial cost may appear to be high, but Probate Court cost a lot more.
Q. The winds that we experienced in Tehachapi in the past couple of weeks have damaged a large tree owned by my neighbor. A big branch broke and ended up on the roof of my garage, causing a gash that is going to cost several thousands of dollars to fix. I have not seen my neighbor in at least a month. I believe he is just a part-time resident here. What should I do?
A. You need to contact your homeowners’ insurance company. They will take care of the subrogation, in other words, they will contact the owner next door and ascertain what insurance he has and get reimbursed by that insurance. You must not wait until you have additional damage, otherwise you may have to pay for the additional damage yourself.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 14 years of experience. She practices law from her Tehachapi office as well as her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers to the best of her abilities. Email your questions to maxinedev@msn.com or fax to (661)825-8880
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