Adaptation note: This story is adapted from similar matters handled by Lingtu Law and its peers. Names, places, dates and amounts have been changed, and the outcomes are presented as scenarios only. They do not reflect that similar cases will reach the same result.

P and D lived together in Irvine for nearly 20 years. Both had been divorced, so they never remarried. D bought the house years ago on his own, it was titled only in his name, and it is now worth about $1.5 million. D had no children and his parents had died, so under the law his property would go to his two brothers in China. In California, an unmarried partner is not legally family: if D died without any planning, P would receive nothing and would have to leave the home she had lived in for 20 years.

When the two came to us for planning in 2022, we made this clear to D. He decided: the house goes into his trust; after his death, P can live there until she dies or chooses to move out, with insurance and major repairs paid by the trust and day-to-day costs paid by P; after P's death, the house goes to his two nephews. D also named P as beneficiary of his retirement account, and the two signed health care directives for each other so each could make medical decisions for the other in the hospital.

In May 2026 D had a stroke and spent two weeks in the hospital. Because of the directive, the doctors discussed treatment directly with P. D passed away in early June.

His brothers at first assumed the house was theirs and asked around about suing in the U.S. In July, the successor trustee D had chosen, an old friend of his, sent them formal notice and the trust terms, explaining that D had made these decisions himself and that the house would eventually go to their children.

Date	Milestone
April 2022	P and D signed the trust and mutual health care directives; D changed his retirement account beneficiary
May 2026	D hospitalized after a stroke; P worked with his doctors under the health care directive
Early June 2026	D passed away; the successor trustee began managing the trust
July 2026	Trust notices sent to his two brothers in China
August 2026	Retirement account transferred to P
September 2026	Both brothers returned signed acknowledgments; P remains in the home

P still lives in the home, and in August the retirement account was transferred to her. In September both brothers signed and returned acknowledgments of the notice, and no one went to court.