Often the biggest surprise of setting up a trust is that the process is relatively quick and painless. The thing people struggle with the most is thinking about their wishes. Most people think estate planning is a complicated and expensive process that is only for the wealthy, but nothing could be further from the truth. So what exactly is estate planning? It is the process of planning how your assets will pass if something were to happen to you. Some people execute a Will which identifies their wishes, however, this approach requires your heirs to go to court to finalize the transfer of assets. Opening probate incurs attorney’s fees, court costs, and often, significant time before any assets are transferred to your heirs. Another approach is to create a Living Trust which, like a will, identifies your wishes, but allows you to bypass the probate process. With a Living Trust, you are the trustee during your lifetime, and you can name multiple successor trustees who are tasked with distributing your trust assets according to your wishes.
A Living Trust avoids the time and expense of probate for any assets transferred into the trust. This is also a great option for people with multiple properties, and especially those who own property in multiple states. But you do not need to own multiple properties for a trust to be beneficial. A trust can allow you to place restrictions on distributions trust assets. You can set parameters on who can receive distributions and when. For example, you can require your children to reach a certain age before receiving any assets outright. Trusts are highly customizable to your needs, and they allow you to ensure that your assets are passing according to your wishes without the time and expense of probate. Living Trusts are also easily modified during your lifetime if your wishes happen to change.
The first step in estate planning is to assess your assets and goals. We have created an estate planning questionnaire that can help you to think about your estate planning needs. Once completed, we schedule time to discuss your estate planning needs. With each trust, we include a Will, Living Will, Health Care Surrogate Form, and Power of Attorney, along with instructions for funding your Trust. We want the process to be as simple as possible for each of our clients. Call or email us today to schedule a consultation and take the first step in your planning. The sooner you get started, the sooner you will have the peace of mind of knowing that your affairs are in order.