Jon Coupal is President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Finally, those leaving property to their heirs will be able to avoid the expense of hiring an attorney. There is no need to make the inheritance of real estate so costly that it becomes a hardship on homeowners, especially low income families and seniors.
Currently, for a single person to pass on property to designated heirs requires a will or trust. A will, of course, must be administered through a Probate Court, a process that can be both costly and time-consuming. Trusts – for those who seek to avoid probate – usually require legal advice from an attorney and should be updated periodically. For homeowners on a fixed income, both methods can be prohibitively expensive. (Married individuals can avoid probate when passing property on to the surviving spouse by holding title to their home as community property with right of survivorship or joint tenants with right of survivorship.)
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