A living trust is a powerful tool in an estate planner’s toolbox. It is useful for anyone who wants to ensure their assets are distributed exactly as they wish after death.
A living trust can also reduce the risk of lengthy and contested guardianship proceedings for minor children. Let’s take a closer look at why you should consider a living trust.
Avoiding Probate
What is a living trust in California? A living trust is a legal document that permits you to manage and distribute your assets to your beneficiaries while still alive. It also helps you avoid probate, the court-supervised procedure of distributing your assets after death. One of the main reasons people create a living trust is to avoid probate. Probate is a lengthy process where the executor of an estate works with the courts to ensure any debts are paid and assets distributed to beneficiaries according to the decedent’s will or state law. This process is time-consuming and can be expensive. Using a living trust eliminates the need for probate for any assets transferred into the trust so that they can be distributed to your beneficiaries immediately.
Additionally, a trust can be used to avoid the need for multiple probate proceedings when you own property in more than one state. A common problem occurs when a will fails to transfer ownership of out-of-state real property properly. Creating a living trust and properly funding it will prevent the need for probate in other states, saving both time and money.
Another benefit of avoiding probate is that the successor trustee in your living trust can take control of any assets upon your death or incapacity, bypassing the need for court intervention. It’s important to note that investments in your living trust’s name must still be reported on income tax returns. This is a small price to pay for the ability to avoid probate and keep your family’s affairs private.
Keeping Your Assets Private
A private living trust will not become a public document after your death. It will keep your estate information out of the hands of nosy neighbors or estranged family members who would be interested in knowing details of your personal and financial affairs.
Unlike a will, a living trust also allows you to protect your assets during your lifetime. Since the assets in a living trust are not yours, they can’t be used to pay for your debts or taken by creditors. It will help ensure that your heirs receive the inheritance you intend to get without unnecessary delays and costs.
You can also use a living trust to protect assets that you want to go to charity or other special purposes. You can create a charitable trust to support your favorite causes or a special needs trust to provide for a loved one with unique needs without disqualifying them from government benefits.
Another important feature of a living trust is that it allows you to set up your terms for asset distribution. For example, you can stipulate that your children will only receive their inheritance after reaching milestones like graduating high school or getting married. It will avoid the need for a court-appointed conservatorship (like Britney Spears’ father has) and give you control over how your children manage their inheritance.
Avoiding Disinheritance
The reason people often create living trusts is to avoid the pitfalls that come with do-it-yourself estate planning. If you don’t have a living trust, your will must go through probate, and there is always the possibility that your intended beneficiaries may not receive what you want them to.
A living trust allows you to name trustees and a beneficiary who can immediately care for end-of-life matters without waiting for the courts. It means less waiting time and costs and helps prevent heirs from fighting over your assets.
When you create your living trust, you can make it revocable or irrevocable. Revocable living trusts allow you to change your mind and move assets in and out of the faith at will, while irrevocable ones can’t. It is important to seek legal expertise when setting up a trust because many details, including transferring property deeds and bank accounts, must be correct.
You might choose to disinherit someone from your estate for several reasons, ranging from estrangement to the fact that they never did anything for which you could thank them. Suppose you want to ensure they don’t get any of your assets. In that case, you can include a no-contest clause in your living trust stating that they will lose everything if the beneficiary challenges the decision to disinherit them.
Avoiding Estate Taxes
Estate taxes can be costly. A living trust can help you avoid them. If you have assets valued at over $2 million, a revocable trust may save your family up to $1.4 million in estate taxes.
Another reason people choose a living trust is to avoid paying state and federal death or inheritance taxes. The trustee who manages a revocable living trust must still report income generated by the trust to the IRS. However, this is generally much less work than filing a state and federal tax return yearly for a large estate.
A living trust also helps you avoid paying estate taxes if you transfer some of your property into the trust before your death. A living trust is usually more effective than a will in this respect. The trust’s trustee can immediately take care of end-of-life expenses and distribute your property to heirs without waiting for a probate judge.
A living trust can also control what happens after your death if you have unpaid creditors. After a person’s death, creditors have a specific period to file claims against their estate. Once this period ends, any remaining assets can be distributed to the beneficiaries. However, in certain circumstances, it may be beneficial to create a living trust to prevent creditors from holding onto your property after your death. It can be achieved by limiting the types of assets that you leave to them.