- Jurisdiction
- California
An elderly former neighbor of ours whose first language is not English recently had a revocable living trust made up in California, by a California attorney, when she resided in California and expected to continue long-term. She has two specific questions that she is asking me to obtain answers for her about:
(1) The attorney who created the trust documents for her served as both the notary and one of the two witnesses (the attorney has no other role, such as executor or beneficiary). Is the trust valid if the attorney served in these three capacities (creator, notary and witness)?
(2) Our neighbor subsequently made an unexpected move to the state of Oklahoma, where she expects to reside for the remainder of her life. A financial planner there is telling her that she needs to have the trust re-done by an Oklahoma attorney because of the differences in law between California and Oklahoma. (The neighbor is widowed, with no children or living relatives, either in the US or elsewhere, if that makes a difference.) The second question is: Is it really necessary to do a new trust? She reportedly paid $2,100 for the one that was done in California and she is not affluent, so she is understandably reluctant to have a new trust done if it is not really necessary.
(1) The attorney who created the trust documents for her served as both the notary and one of the two witnesses (the attorney has no other role, such as executor or beneficiary). Is the trust valid if the attorney served in these three capacities (creator, notary and witness)?
(2) Our neighbor subsequently made an unexpected move to the state of Oklahoma, where she expects to reside for the remainder of her life. A financial planner there is telling her that she needs to have the trust re-done by an Oklahoma attorney because of the differences in law between California and Oklahoma. (The neighbor is widowed, with no children or living relatives, either in the US or elsewhere, if that makes a difference.) The second question is: Is it really necessary to do a new trust? She reportedly paid $2,100 for the one that was done in California and she is not affluent, so she is understandably reluctant to have a new trust done if it is not really necessary.