A living trust contains your assets and holds them for your beneficiaries until the time of your death. When you die, then your trust’s assets will be transferred to the beneficiaries of your choice. Now, a living trust can be changed at any time. This means you can update it with every life change. Here are the reasons you should consider a living trust.
You May Save Money
Living trusts will most likely save your loved ones money in the long run. Say that a person comes forward and tries to contest your trust. If you had a will, then the person is more likely to be able to drag out the process and cost your estate more money in fighting the contest. When it comes to the living trust, you can avoid lengthy contests and also avoid probate, which tends to cost money to the family and estate. Now, when you establish the trust, it will cost you more initially. Don’t let this deter you, however. It can save you money in the long run.
You Can Avoid Probate
Probate tends to be a pain for most who have to go through it. It is the court process that your loved ones go through when distributing your estate. For some families, this is a lengthy process that tends to cost money. It may delay inheritances and cut down the amount given to each. When you have the property in a living trust, then you are able to avoid probate. This makes for a quicker process for everyone involved.
You Protect Privacy
When you go through the probate process, all your records are public. If you want to keep your assets private or who inherited which assets from you, then you are not going to want to have it in a traditional will. Instead, if you have a trust, then it is a private document between you and the other parties involved. It is never a part of the public record. No one can look up your estate to find out about the distribution of your assets.
When it comes to your estate plan, trusts can be a lot more cost-effective and can protect the privacy of those who set one up. Trusts allow you to avoid probate court and can make sure that no one can look into your estate. To figure out if a trust works best for you, consult with an estate planning lawyer, like an Estate Planning Lawyer in Melbourne, FL, as soon as possible.
Thank you to the experts at Arcadier, Biggie & Wood, PLLC for their input into estate planning law.