The place I saw that I would like to go back to was about a block from the beach was originally a school for young ladies to prepare them for life, according to the step on guide. He said a woman designed it. It taught single women how to get a job, live alone and take care of themselves, back when women didn't live alone. Later they opened it to the public. I asked about the rates and it was around $80. a night. Someone said at those rates it may be dormitories, instead of private rooms. It would be fun to stay a few days, rent a bike and explore that area.

We pay about $1,800, but that is for federal and two states. We pay extra for DH's office return and more for my family farm return (but they also do some year end bookkeeping type stuff for the farm -- bringing the GL up to date, etc. and preparing the W-2 for our one employee, my brother). And we often have other matters to discuss with our CPA thought the year. As far as revocable living trusts are concerned, Snidley is right on. It is pretty simple. My mom put all her assets in such a trust, and the only problem was that since we did it mid year, she got two 1099s from the same sources - on for the interest or dividends paid un the first part of the year in her name and another for the income after the stick or account was transferred. However both were reported on he SSN and it was easy to handle. The next year the 1099s were issued in the name of the trust. All RLT income is reported on her individual return. The RLT's primary (really only) benefit is that it avoids probate (but will not escape estate tax liability-that will depend on the total of her assets at the time of her death, less deductions to her unified credit (for gifts over tie annual exclusion) She also has a separate irrevocable trust from my Dad's estate that must file a tax return as a separate entity. It is more complicated, but even then the tax goes into her personal return. This one avoids probate and the estate taxes were paid when dad died so it will pass to us outright.

Put the property in a revocable living trust with you as trustee, and your daughter as the next trustee. After your death, as the new trustee she can do what she wants with the property. It will get a 'stepped up basis' at the time of your death (the estate actually pays the taxes but unless it goes over well over $1 million no inheritance tax is due). You need to see an experienced estate/elder attorney to have all the details explained if you cannot find out the information yourself. In the mean time, you should have a new deed recorded showing you as the sole owner of the property. If anything should happen to you it makes a real mess since both persons named on the deed are now dead.

>>(from luvstocraft) So am I understanding correctly that the Living Trust can help protect some of our assets--but just a Will will not do that? >> I'm sorry that I didn't pay more careful attention to some of these questions, and hope it's not too late to get these answers to luv since like her, we live in CA. First off, Living Wills are not legal in CA. The document needed is called the Durable Healthcare power of attorney. All forms since 2009 should include the POLST questions (Physician's Order for Life Sustaining Treatment). Anyone with a DHPoA prior to 2009 should Google and download this 1-page form, fill it out and give a signed copy to your doctor or HMO, ASAP. Second, as pointed out, you need to be careful about which type of Financial Power of Attorney you want. Be especially thoughtful about who is the successor agent should you **and** your spouse become mentally incapable. Make sure that all your financial records are filed properly and are easy to access in an emergency. Now, to wills vs trusts: A will MUST go through probate. This has certain advantages: a will is public record, meaning it's a lot harder (although not impossible) to commit fraud. If you don't have a large estate, there is nothing wrong with using a will. There are two kinds of personal trusts (well, there's many different kinds, but you generally need to have substantial assets to make use of them): Revocable and Irrevocable. In a revocable living trust (RLT), you or whoever is named trustee/co-trustee, own those assets and manage the trust. You can change the terms however and whenever you please. An Irrevocable trust is just that - once set up and funded with assets, it cannot be changed. The trustee is just a manager of the assets. It can't be canceled if you change your mind or your situation changes. You no longer own any of the assets in the trust. It is a permanent legal entity unto itself, until all assets are exhausted. Any trust must be funded; e.g., you must take legal steps to transfer assets to the trust. Just setting up a trust does not mean anything is inside the trust. Trusts do not go through probate. They are a method of passing assets to heirs without the costs of probate. OTOH, speaking as one who served as Executor of a simple estate, I can tell you that even a simple estate or trust takes hours and hours to settle. It is neither easy, nor simple, and when a person is grieving it is extremely exhausting. An Executor of a will gets paid a fee (and in CA, believe me that fee is earned) - but a Trustee NEVER gets paid unless payment, hourly or flat fee or percentage, is specified in the Trust....even though a Trustee can spend just as much personal time, if not more, than any Executor does, on settling an estate. Revocable Living Trusts will NOT save on taxes. They are a conveyance, a means of passing assets more efficiently in certain situations. They do not “protect” anything because that is not their intent. The only thing it will save is the court costs of filing for probate, and the mandated fees to Executor and Attorney from the assessed value of the estate. For example, my MIL has an RLT. Realistically, there was never any need for she and her (now deceased) husband to have one. They have only one son, had only one house, and modest financial assets. It made the transfer of assets to her as the surviving Trustee simpler, but then we had to have a lawyer draw up yet another trust, this time with her and her son (DH) as co-trustees. Had they had a good will drawn up instead, we could have continued with that and spent less half the amount of money it cost, by having her update a will instead of creating a new trust. In comparison, DH and I have a trust. We have no children, and our estate falls under whatever the federal estate tax limit is or is going to be. But because we have no children, our heirs are not directly related to us - and both heirs have siblings who by law would have just as much right to any inheritance. Therefore, we had our trust drawn up with specific language that excludes anyone not named in the trust. We also arranged for the Trustee to be paid on an hourly basis for work done for the estate, because we believe that's fair. I did a little research on the so-called "Medicaid trusts". These are apparently encouraged by certain lawyers who claim they will protect assets from being seized by Medicaid. There is a debate about this subject, and some lawyers say there is no current legal decision that fully supports any trust as being 'untouchable' by Medicaid. Whether this is true or not, I have no idea. A Medicaid trust is Irrevocable - once set up, you have lost all assets you transfer over. It is NOT excused from the Medicaid 5-yr look-back on asset transfers. If Medicaid does decide your trust is a fraud designed to hide assets from them, you would need a lawyer to file suit. And of course, no one should ever set up any trust, Revocable or Irrevocable, without the advice of a lawyer. Even using good forms, such as those available from Nolo Press/Berkeley, can produce a document that does not address all the issues your estate may face...if only because there are things you don't know which may be issues in the future, that the questions of a professional might have avoided. If you use a good estate attorney, they often charge a flat fee for drawing up the RLT, both PoAs, a pour-over will (VERY important) and even transferring the title to your home into the trust. Our attorney spent hours with MIL and with us, both together and separately, to ensure she had a clear picture of what we wanted. Then it was her job to create documents which would enable our wishes to be carried out, when we're no longer able to be there. I apologize for going OT. But these are critical issues that all too many Boomers have left undone for too long. HTH!