Should i have living trust

It will take some time—but you can do it now, or you can pay the courts and attorneys to do it for you later. One of the benefits of a living trust is that all of your assets are brought together under one plan. You may decide to be the trustee of your trust. However, some people select a corporate trustee bank or trust company to act as trustee or co-trustee now, especially if they don't have the time, ability, or desire to manage their trusts, or if one or both spouses are ill.

Corporate trustees are experienced investment managers, they are objective and reliable, and their fees are usually very reasonable. If you and your spouse are co-trustees, either can act and have instant control if one becomes incapacitated or dies.

If something happens to both of you, or if you are the only trustee, the successor trustee you personally selected will step in.

If a corporate trustee is already your trustee or co-trustee, they will continue to manage your trust for you. If you become incapacitated, your successor trustee looks after your care and manages your financial affairs for as long as needed, using your assets to pay your expenses.

If you recover, you resume control. When you die, your successor trustee pays your debts, files your tax returns, and distributes your assets. All can be done quickly and privately, according to instructions in your trust, without court interference. If you choose an individual, you should also name some additional successors in case your first choice is unable to act.

Unlike a will, a trust doesn't have to die with you. Assets can stay in your trust, managed by the trustee you selected, until your beneficiaries reach the age s you want them to inherit. Your trust can continue longer to provide for a loved one with special needs, or to protect the assets from beneficiaries' creditors, spouses, and future death taxes. Your state may also have its own death or inheritance tax.

If you are married, your living trust can include a provision that will let you and your spouse use both of your exemptions, saving a substantial amount of money for your loved ones. Not quite. A will can contain wording to create a testamentary trust to save estate taxes, care for minors, etc. But because it's part of your will, this trust cannot go into effect until after you die and the will is probated.

So it does not avoid probate and provides no protection at incapacity. Not when compared to all of the costs of court interference at incapacity and death. How much you pay will depend primarily on your goals and what you want to accomplish. It should only take a few weeks to prepare the legal documents after you make the basic decisions. Yes, but you need the right attorney.

A local attorney who has considerable experience in living trusts and estate planning will be able to give you valuable guidance and peace of mind that your trust is prepared and funded properly. The asset may have to go through probate first, but it can then be distributed as part of your overall living trust plan. Also, if you have minor children, a guardian will need to be named in the will.

Living trusts are no more effective than wills in saving state and federal estate taxes. Living trusts can adversely affect your eligibility for Medicaid nursing home benefits. Living trusts are not necessary to manage your property if you become disabled. Some salespeople sell living trusts so they can learn what assets you own.

These people will try to sell you an annuity or other financial products. They actually sell financial products for a living, not living trusts. Living trusts are not for everyone. The most important reasons for having a living trust include: You own property in another state.

You are concerned that you might become disabled and that, as a result, you will be subject to undue influence. You want to create other trusts inside your living trust that do not require court supervision.

Beneficiaries of your estate are disabled. You live or spend a significant amount of time in a state in which probate is time-consuming, burdensome and costly. Lessons Question what you are told about living trusts. Salespeople are trying to make money by selling you a living trust. That's something you can't accomplish with joint tenancy or a pay-on-death bank account.

Living trusts do have a downside. Compared to wills, living trusts are considerably more time-consuming to establish, involve more ongoing maintenance, and are more trouble to modify.

Also, you'll still need a simple will, as a back-up device, even if you create a trust. These drawbacks are outweighed by the benefits for people who have large estates and for those who are likely to die in the next ten years or so.

To decide if you need a living trust, consider these factors:. Living trusts often do not make sense for middle-income people in decent health who are under the age of 55 or Remember, a living trust does nothing for you during your life. It follows that there is usually little reason for a year-old to worry about probate costs for many years. In the meantime, a serviceable will, which is easier to establish and live with, will do a fine job of transferring your property to your loved ones in the highly unlikely event that you die without warning.

Another reason why it makes little sense for a healthy younger person of moderate means to worry about probate avoidance is that the problem may go away. In just the last ten years, easy-to-use probate-avoidance techniques, such as being able to name a beneficiary to inherit securities free of probate, have gained wide acceptance. This trend will probably continue.

After age, the biggest factor in deciding whether or not to create a living trust is wealth. The trustee is responsible for managing assets in the trust on behalf of you and your beneficiaries. Depending on your preference, you can set up a living trust to be revocable or irrevocable.

A revocable living trust is the more flexible option, since you can change it any time. This means you can move assets in and out of the trust whenever you want, or revoke the trust at any time. The specific rules for setting up a living trust may very based on the state you are in.

Some of the different assets you can transfer to a living trust include real estate, cars, boats, bank accounts, antiques, jewelry, artwork, family heirlooms, stamp or coin collections, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other securities. For example, you can name the trust as a beneficiary for a retirement account, such as a k , IRA, or for your life insurance policy.