Distribution of Assets

How Assets are Distributed in a Riverside Estate

Are curious to know how estate planning can control how your assets will be distributed upon your death? If yes, Riverside estate planning and probate attorney, Dennis M. Sandoval can help you!

Attorney Sandoval not only has over 30 years of experience in the legal profession, but he is AV Preeminent® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®, he is included in California's selection of Super Lawyers®, and he has a 10.0 Superb Avvo Rating. These accomplishments are respected by his peers and a testament to the fact that he is entirely committed to client satisfaction.

Asset Distribution With or Without a Will

With distributing an estate, there are several factors that come into play. For instance, whether or not you're married or have children, whether or not you have a will or trust, and how title to your property is held.

Probate is the court-supervised process of validating a will, paying all debts and claims against an estate, and distributing what's left to the beneficiaries named in the will, or in the absence of a will, according to state law. An estate may or may not need to go to probate depending upon the amount of money involved, the type of property, how title is held, and who is claiming the property.

The following types of property do not require probate proceedings because they pass automatically to beneficiaries:

• Property owned in joint tenancy, or community property with the right of survivorship.
• Bank accounts owned by several people.
• Bank accounts with payable-on-death designations.
• Transfer-on-death registration for securities.
• Assets held in a trust.
• Life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and investments with beneficiary designations.

Probate is essentially for all property that passes through a will. All property which passes through a trust or by means of a beneficiary designation, is not subject to probate since it passes automatically to the survivor. However, in some cases the survivor may need to take legal steps to clarify his or her ownership of the transferred property.

When an estate is established with a will or a trust, or both, the distributions will be made according to the terms set forth in the estate planning documents. But, when a person dies without a will or a trust, their estate is distributed according to California's intestate succession laws, which take effect when someone dies without a will or without a legally valid will. In such cases, the property is distributed to the decedent's closest relatives according to a strict set of laws.

Do you desire to be in control of how your assets will be distributed and to whom? If so, contact Dennis M. Sandoval, a PLC to arrange a free consultation!