California Consumers Beware of Living Trust Mills: 8 Tips to Avoid Becoming a Victim

When doing estate planning, California consumers should beware of “Living Trust Mills” because they may actually be a scheme represented by salespeople posing as “living trust experts.” These alleged experts sell annuities and other investments under the guise of helping with an individual’s living

Senior Citizens are Especially at Risk

Estate plans of senior citizens are particularly at risk because these salespeople deliberately target them through home visits or through free seminars in churches, assisted living centers and other places where seniors gather. The sales people then use the financial information shared with them by unsuspecting consumers to frighten these people into thinking that their current investments are inferior and riskier than the ones the salespeople are selling.

Beware of any seminar or advertisement that includes language such as “A licensed insurance agent may contact you.”

This is a red flag that you are dealing with a Living Trust Mill. The California Attorney General’s office offers the following tips to avoid being victimized by a living trust mill: --Living trust mills' sales agents are usually not attorneys and are not experts in estate planning. --Watch out for companies that sell trusts and also try to sell annuities. --Sales agents may fail to disclose possible adverse tax consequences or early withdrawal penalties that may be incurred when transferring stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit or other investments to annuities. --An annuity is not 100 percent safe, and only a portion is guaranteed by the state. --Insurance companies can and do fail, and their assets may not be enough to pay the full value of their customers' investments. --So called "promissory notes" are not insured by the FDIC or any other government agency and may be very risky. They may not be registered as securities with the state.

Becareful Before Making Changes to Your Estate Plan

Before making any changes to an estate plan consumers should consult a licensed attorney, preferably a certified specialist in estate planning and trusts. Beware of anyone trying to set up your estate plan AND sell you products to place in the plan.