I need to set up a new will and probably an irrevocable trust to perform financial services for my husband if I pre-decease him, to hold the funds in trust, provide him with an income from the trust, and to disburse the remaining funds after my husband’s death to the beneficiaries of my choice. My husband is a complete naif when it comes to money and would be at the mercy of whoever was administering the trust - he was born to be cheated. So I’m interested in the best way to find a lawyer to help set this up in as iron-clad manner as possible, and what that trust arrangement might look like.
For the end product, I care about three things: making sure my husband is as comfortable as possible during his life, paying no more than legitimate fees for the lawyer’s and trustee’s services, and making sure none of his relatives get their hands on the money after he’s dead. The original sources of the money are my IRA from 40 years of working, and some assets left to me by my father. I am happy to share everything with my husband, but his relatives don’t deserve any of it. He has some money of his own, and they can have that if there’s anything left.
I assume this is something that any estate lawyer would be able to set up. I am thinking of setting it up so that the trustee is mostly independent of the lawyer except that they can check up on each other in some way. Or maybe an annual audit conducted by yet another third party.
Anyone with experience or credentials in this area? Any advice about how to choose from a huge number of estate lawyers in the area? Should I be looking for the trustee separately, or first, or something else? We live in San Francisco, so under California and U.S. law.