Many different individuals may play an important role in your estate planning process, either as you draft your estate planning documents or as they are being administered. You have many different options for estate planning in California, including wills and trusts. Various people will have terms used to refer to them throughout the estate planning and administration process.
The first of these is known as an executor or personal representative. This is the individual who was selected to ensure that the wishes of the deceased are carried out appropriately. Their distributions and actions can include things such as making charitable donations, paying outstanding debts and taxes, and then distributing assets. This individual can be chosen by the writer of the will, but the courts in California will select this person if no one has been named or if no will is in existence.
A trustee, on the other hand, still carries out the wishes of a deceased individual, but are named in a trust rather than a will. The trustee has the title to any major assets inside the trust, and it is their job to properly manage and then distribute at the correct time to beneficiaries.
On the other hand, a guardian is someone who has no responsibility to distribute or manage assets. Instead, they are responsible for anyone under the age of 18 that was left behind by an individual who passed away. This includes meeting all the needs of the minor, such as safety, clothing, food, and shelter. You may use your will to name a guardian in your California estate planning process. Make sure to work with an experienced Pasadena estate planning lawyer to learn more.
