This is what your family faces — and it happens to thousands of Latino families in California every year.
With a properly prepared Living Trust, your home passes directly to your family — no court, no waiting, no spending thousands of dollars.
Simple, bilingual, no need to visit an attorney office.
No surprises. Price depends on your family situation.
"Yo pensé que eso era solo para gente rica. Pero cuando mi vecino murió sin trust, su familia tardó casi dos años para poder vender la casa. Eso me hizo pensar y lo hice de inmediato."
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California has the highest home prices in the country and one of the most expensive probate processes. This combination means that when a homeowner passes away without a Living Trust, the family faces the worst possible situation: a valuable property trapped in a slow judicial system, exposed to transfer taxes, property re-assessments, and mandatory statutory fees.
Under Probate Code §10810, probate fees are legally fixed: 4% on the first $100,000, 3% on the next $100,000, 2% on the next $800,000. For a typical Los Angeles home of $850,000, this is $20,000 in attorney fees + an identical $20,000 in executor fees (Probate Code §10800) + court costs (typically $500-$2,000) + appraisal costs ($500-$1,500) = approximately $40,000-$45,000 in total costs. This comes out of the estate before heirs receive anything.
Worse still, during the 12-24 months that probate lasts, the family cannot sell the property to free up cash. If the home has a mortgage, payments keep accumulating. If there are unpaid property taxes, the city can initiate forced-sale proceedings. In Los Angeles County, we know of cases where families lost homes due to inability to keep up payments during the long probate process — a completely avoidable scenario with a $599 Living Trust.
Proposition 19, in effect since February 2021, DRAMATICALLY changed the rules of property transfer between parents and children in California. Before Prop 19, parents could transfer their home to children without property tax re-assessment (keeping the original tax basis). This allowed families to keep homes within the family for generations at a reasonable property tax cost.
Under Prop 19, the parent-to-child transfer only avoids re-assessment if the child USES the property as a primary residence within one year, AND the difference between current market value and the original assessed basis is less than $1 million. If the child plans to rent it out, or if the difference exceeds $1M (common in LA, Orange, San Diego, San Francisco), the property is re-assessed at current market value — doubling or tripling property taxes.
This makes Living Trust planning even MORE important: in a properly structured Trust, we can use other tools (LLCs for rental properties, family-name structures, generation-skipping provisions) to minimize Prop 19 impact. For complex cases, we recommend Living Trust Pro ($1,599) with a Mar Vista Law attorney consultation.
Phase 1 — Living Trust ($599 Standard or $1,599 Pro). The legal document that creates the "container" where your property will live. The Trust is the nominal owner of the home but you maintain full control during your lifetime.
Phase 2 — Transferring the home into the Trust (Quitclaim Deed). This is CRITICAL and where most families fail. Creating the Trust is not enough — you must transfer the property by signing a Quitclaim Deed that changes title from "Juan García" to "Juan García, Trustee of the García Family Living Trust." Without this transfer, the home is NOT in the Trust and goes through probate anyway. Our Quitclaim Deed ($149) prepares this document; or our Boots on the Ground service ($249) does it all: prepares it, takes it to a notary public, records it at the County Recorder, and returns the recorded document.
Phase 3 — Successor Trustee designation. Within the Trust, you designate who takes control if you pass away or become incapacitated. Typically a spouse or trusted adult child. It can also be a professional trustee (bank, attorney) for complex situations.
Phase 4 — Pour-Over Will (included in Trust Standard). Safety net for any asset you forget to transfer into the Trust during your lifetime.
Phase 5 — Durable Power of Attorney ($149). Allows your trusted person to handle financial matters if you become incapacitated but have not yet passed away. Without this, the family must go through judicial conservatorship.
Phase 6 — Advance Health Care Directive + HIPAA Authorization. For medical decisions and access to medical information.
Case 1 — The Ramírez family, Bell Gardens: $620,000 home with no mortgage, two adult children. Father passed away without a Trust. The family went into probate, paid $13,500 in statutory fees, waited 18 months to sell the home. During that time the market dropped 8% — they lost an additional $50,000 in market value. Total cost of NOT having a Trust: approximately $65,000.
Case 2 — The Vargas family, El Monte: Before the father passed away, they prepared Living Trust Standard ($599) + Quitclaim Deed with our Boots on the Ground ($249). When the father passed, the daughter (Successor Trustee) took control of the Trust in a single day, sold the home in 3 months, distributed the resources to heirs without probate. Total cost: $848 + normal sales taxes. Savings vs. case 1: $65,000.
Case 3 — Mrs. Mendoza, Bell: 72 years old, widow, $480,000 home, beginning memory problems. Her son contacted us concerned. We helped her prepare Living Trust Pro ($1,599) with an attorney consultation while she still had legal capacity. Three months later, Mrs. Mendoza had a stroke and lost legal capacity — but the Trust was already in place. Without those three months, the family would have had to petition for judicial conservatorship ($8,000-$15,000) to manage her estate.
For many families, the obstacle is not preparing the Living Trust but transferring the property into the Trust correctly. This involves: going to a notary public, going to the County Recorder, filling out PCOR forms (Preliminary Change of Ownership Report) correctly to avoid re-assessment, and ensuring proper recording of the Quitclaim Deed.
Our Boots on the Ground service ($249) does all of this for you in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. A Multi Servicios 360 agent picks up the signed and notarized Quitclaim Deed from your home or office, completes the PCOR correctly to maintain your parent-to-child re-assessment exemption, files the document with the County Recorder, pays recording fees ($20-$25), and returns the recorded and certified document to you the next day.
For elderly families or those without time to handle this personally, Boots on the Ground is the solution. We cover the following counties: Los Angeles (all 88 cities), Orange (all), Riverside (Riverside, Moreno Valley, Corona, Murrieta, Temecula, Hemet), San Bernardino (San Bernardino, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Victorville). Other California counties: by certified mail with detailed instructions.
No. Designating beneficiaries (Transfer-on-Death Deed, JTWROS) is different from having a Trust. Each tool has pros and cons. The Living Trust is generally the best option for California homes given the Prop 19 context and probate cost.
No. The Homeowners Exemption ($7,000) is maintained when you transfer to a Trust if you continue living in the property. To secure it, file BOE-58 Affidavit with the Assessor when you record the Quitclaim Deed.
No. The Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 (12 U.S.C. §1701j-3) protects transfers to a Living Trust from the "due-on-sale clause" in your mortgage. Your lender cannot accelerate the loan just for a Trust transfer. We recommend notifying the lender in writing after the transfer for their records.
Yes, but many lenders will ask you to temporarily take the home out of the Trust during the refinancing process, and put it back after closing. This is normal — our Quitclaim Deed ($149) can be prepared in both directions.
No. A revocable Living Trust does NOT offer protection against creditors or lawsuits during your lifetime — the Trust is not a liability shield. For lawsuit protection (asset protection), you need more complex structures: Irrevocable Trust, LLC for rental properties, or spousal property structures. Consult an attorney.
Notify your insurance company of the title change. Generally the same policy is maintained, just adding "Trustee of [Trust name]" as additional named insured. There should be no premium change if you continue living in the property.
Living Trust Standard: $599. Living Trust Pro (with attorney): $1,599. Boots on the Ground (Quitclaim Deed + recording): additional $249. Typical total: $848-$1,848. Cost of probate without Trust for an $850,000 home: approximately $40,000. Savings: 95%+.
The process takes just 20–30 minutes online. We handle the rest. Your family will thank you.
Multi Servicios 360 prepara documentos de autoayuda. No somos abogados. Desde $599.