{"id":1549,"date":"2020-10-27T20:13:56","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T03:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bryantelderlaw.com\/?p=1549"},"modified":"2021-09-08T17:34:57","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T00:34:57","slug":"transfer-on-death-deeds-do-i-still-need-a-living-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bryantelderlaw.com\/transfer-on-death-deeds-do-i-still-need-a-living-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"Transfer on Death Deeds – Do I still need a living trust?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under ordinary circumstances, if you own real property at your death in California and it is not titled in joint tenancy or held in a living trust<\/a>, you would be facing a probate situation.<\/p>\n

In 2015, California created a special form of \u201crevocable transfer on\u00a0death\u00a0deed\u201d that (1) makes a donative transfer of real property to a named\u00a0beneficiary; (2) operates on the transferor\u2019s\u00a0death; and (3) remains revocable until the transferor\u2019s\u00a0death.\u00a0This instrument allows the grantor to avoid probate on this property at death. The revocable transfer on\u00a0death\u00a0deed\u00a0does not affect ownership rights of the parties until the transferor\u2019s\u00a0death, and in effect creates a contingent interest on\u00a0death. This deed is only effective for Transfer made by a transferor who dies on or after January 1, 2016. The statutes remain in effect until January 1, 2021, unless that date is extended or deleted (there is pending legislation to extend this to January 1, 2022). However, the expiration of the statutes does not affect the validity of a deed executed before that date or the authority of a transferor to revoke a deed after that date.<\/p>\n

Before determining \u201crevocable transfer on\u00a0death\u00a0deed\u201d is the best option for you, you should consider the following:<\/p>\n