In California the check would be made in the name of the trust the Executor/Trustee would distribute funds to the heirs just like any other assets of the trust. Once all the assets and all liabilities are paid out and the trust balance is zero the Executor/Trustee would close out the trust

Yes - ask the attorney that did the trust. I think you make the check out to the trust. When everything is all settled the trustee gets the taxes done, distributes the funds, etc. Don't spend the proceeds until the taxes are done :)

AND don't deliver the funds until the lawyers have been paid. Ask me how I know.......you just don't call everyone and say you need some of the money back to pay a bill. Not when there are 18 heirs!
Told my DH not to call the lawyer so much, that costs dollars, did he believe me? No!

Why put the trust in the chain of title (again) as conveying the place?

Pull the property out of the trust, complete the sale.

brickeyee,

The Executor/Trustee cannot just pull the property out of a trust they have to follow the instructions within the trust. In some cases depending on the type of the trust it may trigger estate taxes coming into play. It would defeat the purpose of the trust. Any real estate property in a trust would be recorded with the county recorder as property of the trust not the individual Trustee. It has to be conveyed from the trust.

Look at the property tax bill of any property in a trust and you will see the tax bill is in the name of the trust not the Trustee of the trust. The Trustee may control what happens in a trust depending on the type of trust but the trust owns the property.

If the property is in a living trust and mom is still alive she can easily pull it out and then convey it.

There is simply not enough information to make any hard conclusions, let alone the ones you have now claimed.

trusts have noting to do with taxes so much as probate.
They do not avoid taxes in most cases, just limit probate.

Hire an attorney to guide you.

While many trusts are essentially private items, you may well have to make large parts of it part of the public record to have it convey real property.

If mom is dead and the trustee is now in charge ad does have limited powers, but living trusts are not normaly a tax avoidance method, they are more comonly aprobate avoidance method.

The trustee is going to have to show they do indeed have the power to convey real property (execute a deed in the name of the trust).

I wish mom was still alive. :[

Thank you for the information. The attorney and his firm are no longer around. I suspected that the check would be cut to the Trust, my siblings had other ideas.

I'll be so glad when this is finally wrapped up!
Diane

" The attorney and his firm are no longer around."

Find another elder law attorney to guide you.

I am not trying to come across as cold or unfeeling, but you need to have an attorney who specializes in this area look things over and guide you.

Mistakes can be expensive (to the estate and the executor personally).

brickeyee

We have had the same estate attorney for the past 30 years along with him and our estate tax C.P.A we have managed to save on estate taxes. No you cannot eliminate estate tax with most simple family trusts but by utilizing the yearly gift tax limits and creating by-pass trusts some saving can be obtained. If you were to pull property of a by-pass trust the estate tax implications could be huge.

You are correct mistake and lack of knowledge can be expensive.