A revocable living trust is a legal arrangement where you transfer ownership of your assets into a trust during your lifetime, with the flexibility to modify or revoke the trust as needed. You typically serve as the trustee, retaining control over your assets, and designate beneficiaries to receive those assets upon your passing. This trust allows for efficient asset management during your lifetime and avoids the probate process, ensuring privacy and potentially reducing costs and delays for your beneficiaries.

While both a revocable living trust and a will dictate how your assets are distributed upon your passing, they operate differently. A will only becomes effective after your death and must go through the probate process, which can be time-consuming and costly. In contrast, a revocable living trust takes effect immediately and allows assets to bypass probate, providing for more efficient asset distribution and potentially greater privacy.

A revocable living trust is suitable for individuals or families who own real estate or have substantial assets and wish to avoid probate, maintain privacy, and ensure efficient asset distribution. It's also beneficial for those with specific concerns such as incapacity planning, providing for minor children, or planning for blended families. Ultimately, anyone seeking to simplify the estate settlement process and protect their assets and beneficiaries can benefit from establishing a revocable living trust.

Yes, one of the primary advantages of a revocable living trust is its flexibility. As the trust creator, you retain the power to amend, modify, or revoke the trust at any time during your lifetime, as long as you have the legal capacity to do so. This flexibility allows you to adapt the trust to changing circumstances, such as changes in your family situation or financial status.

A Trustee serves as the custodian of the assets contained within a Trust, responsible for overseeing and administering the Trust's finances according to the provided instructions. Typically, the individual who establishes the Trust assumes the role of Trustee. Responsibilities of the Trustee encompass various tasks such as documenting expenses and income, allocating funds to beneficiaries, and maintaining records of all transactions conducted within the Trust.

A Successor Trustee is designated as the secondary individual to assume the role of Trustee. Typically, the Trust creator serves as the initial Trustee until they become incapacitated or pass away. At such a juncture, the Successor Trustee assumes responsibility. Should the Successor Trustee be unavailable or unwilling to fulfill the duties, it's advisable to appoint an alternate individual to ensure continuity and contingency planning.

Funding your trust is the process of transferring your assets from you to your trust. To do this, you physically change the titles of your assets from your individual name to the name of your trust. If you are married, you and your spouse change the titles of your jointly owned assets to your joint trust. Typically, assets you want in your trust include real estate, investment accounts, business interests, and notes payable to you. You will also want to update most beneficiary designations to name your trust as a primary or contingent beneficiary.

This question is a frequent inquiry we receive.

Regrettably, many DIY estate plans are ineffective as much of the process merely involves word processing. You may respond to a series of automated questions, and the resulting plan, often generated by software rather than a human professional, is chosen for you. Consequently, you may find yourself constrained by a template document that fails to align with your unique needs or circumstances.

Such an approach does not constitute genuine estate planning; it essentially amounts to a "search and replace" operation of your family's name followed by clicking the "print" button.