If you own a home in San Diego you need to give serious consideration to a trust, regardless of the equity in your house. The reason is simple: without a trust your home will have to go through probate court upon your (and your spouse’s) passing, at a cost of at least 12% of the home’s value, (not the equity in your home the appraised value). Let’s take a young couple in their early 30’s who own a $250,000 home (the numbers simply magnify as the value of your home increases). If there were an accident that took the lives of the couple, the surviving family or executor would have to take that home through probate court generating probate costs of $30,000 that would have to be paid by their estate. A trust would allow the couple’s surviving heirs or executor to take control of the home or simply sell it, and any money left over would pass to their beneficiaries intact. Simple. The best news is that the cost of a well designed trust is only a fraction of the cost of probate while protecting your assets from liabilities while you are alive and passing those assets to your heirs without much expense upon your passing. The return on investment for the purchase of your trust is one of the highest rates of return you can safely achieve for the money.