There are many estate planning tools at your disposal, but revocable living trusts can be especially useful for people no matter how much wealth they have. You do not have to be obscenely wealthy to set up a living trust, and if you are curious about whether or not you can benefit from using one a Rockland County estate planning attorney can help you figure that out.
How Do Revocable Living Trusts Work?
When revocable living trusts are created, they need to be funded with your assets. You put anything of value that you want to put in there, provided that local laws allow it. For example, most retirement accounts cannot be transferred into a trust.
When you make a trust revocable, you allow yourself to change the rules governing it later on. You still appoint a trustee, but you retain control over the assets placed in this kind of trust.
What Are Some Good Reasons to Use Revocable Living Trusts?
We already mentioned one of the biggest advantages. You stay in control of your assets. You can fund the trust, take money out, and decide who gets what after you pass on. It’s a flexible estate planning tool that can make it easier for you to manage everything that you own.
Revocable living trusts offer other benefits though. They can:
Allow your family to avoid probate: When someone dies and they do not specify who will receive their assets, their loved ones must go through the probate process where the court decides who gets what. This costs money and takes time, and it’s unlikely that everyone will be happy at the end of it.
Decide where assets go: Any assets in revocable living trusts can be passed down to your loved ones. If you make these arrangements before you pass away, there’s no probate process to deal with.
Prevent accidental disinheriting: If you want to pass on certain assets to certain family members, having a trust can help with that. If you do not make an estate plan and your assets go through the probate process, some of the loved ones that you wanted to make beneficiaries of your estate will not get what you set aside for them.
Do I Need an Attorney to Set Up a Trust?
We recommend that you talk to an estate planning attorney if you want to know more about revocable living trusts and other tools that can protect your estate and assets. A lawyer can make it easy to delve into your finances and set up a plan that can protect what you have worked for all of your life.
Contact Our Law Firm Today
If you’re ready to learn more about your estate planning options, contact the Lauterbach Law Firm and schedule an appointment. We can answer any questions that you have and help you find the right tools, including revocable living trusts, to protect your assets and preserve them for the next generation.
