What Is A Living Trust, And How Can A Living Trust Lawyer Assist You With It?

Are you worried about who will be the recipient of your assets when you pass away, and who will manage their distribution? Are there any dependencies for the inheritance tax of your assets? All of these questions are answered through a single word, known as a living trust. So, if you or your family has considerable assets, then it is a good idea to create a living trust and hire a Living Trust Attorney.

In this post, you will get all your answers related to a living trust and additionally a guideline to reach the affordable living trust attorney.

Let’s begin!!!

What Is The Main Purpose Of Living Trust?

To begin with, let’s define living trust. A living trust is a legal document that will hold your most valuable assets while you are alive and set up a plan to allot them to your beneficiaries after your death. 

Well, it is difficult to imagine your relatives and friends going on without you, But the peace of mind that you will get by taking such an estate planning measure is invaluable.

Now, coming to your question-What Is The Main Purpose Of Living Trust? The major purpose of a living trust is the systematic transfer of your assets among the distributors, as per your decision, after your death. 

As per the terms of the living trust, you will be the granter of the trust and the person you designated to distribute the assets of the trust after your death, will be known as the successor trustee.

Here are some main purposes that drive people to set up living trusts:

Avoid Probate

One of the major reasons people establish living trusts is to avoid probate. Now, wondering what is probate?  Probate is the legal process of distributing the assets of an estate and validating an estate arrangement. It is a lengthy and costly process, sometimes even taking several months or even a year to complete.

The reason for the delay is that assets need to be gathered and appraised first then notify the creditors and finally distribute among the beneficiaries. But sometimes people are reluctant to choose probate because of the pricing and lengthy time issues.

Protect Your Privacy

Another reason people establish living trusts is for privacy purposes. Whenever a will is advanced through probate, it becomes a public record. It implies that anyone can request to see the will and find out the way of distribution of assets. So, people who want to keep their matters private do not pick it.

On the other hand, a living trust does not go through the process of being private and thus remains out of the public eye. So, if you pick it, you can keep your final wishes private and thus no drama or peer pressure. 

Reduce Estate Taxes

If you have large estate assets, and consequently you are a large estate taxpayer, then a living trust is definitely for you. It will help you to reduce estate taxes. Do you know, if you place the estate in a trust, you can reduce the taxes to a great extent? 

Instead of leaving the estate to a beneficiary, that will result in a huge amount of taxes by the IRS. It can be a significant advantage for large estate holders who want to minimize the amount of taxes that their beneficiaries will have to pay later.

Flexibility

Another solid purpose of picking a living trust is the flexibility that it offers. Do you know, you can change a trust at any instant in time, which is not possible in the case of will? 

It simply means that whenever, as per your circumstance, you want to make any change to the trust, then you can change it effortlessly instead of creating a new one.

In case, your finances are varying, your family dynamics are different, or you simply want to change the way of distribution of your assets, then you can better choose a living trust. 

For instance, if your children get married, and now you want to extend your trust to include their spouse or a new grandchild, then this can be done without having to completely rewrite your trust.

Control Your Assets

Whenever you establish a living trust, you have the capacity to name the trustee by yourself, which means you can retain control of your assets. It will be useful for those people who want to make sure that their assets are managed and used for a specific purpose. 

Moreover, there is no probate involved in a living trust, which means the court will not be involved in the distribution of your assets. Besides private documents, trusts give trustees a great deal of control over the management of assets.

Which Is Better, A Will Or A Living Trust?

There are many positive reasons to establish trust, but you can not overlook the fact that it will involve more expenses and effort. To determine, if you should invest in the expense of a trust or make an extra effort, first answer these questions:

Is informal probate an available option in your state? Because, in most states, the probate is a complex process. If it is so, then a will could be appropriate for you.

The second question is, can you actively manage your estate plan? If not, then a living trust is not a suitable solution for you. Since a trust is beneficial only if assets are transferred into it.

Conclusively, which one is best for you? In many respects, a living trust and a will attain similar objectives. However, trust lets you realize other objectives that a will cannot. 

But, all these advantages come up with a price. Your estate plan is the deciding factor, as the thing which is right for one person cannot be right for everyone. 

Living Trust Cost

Generally, a living trust, produced by an attorney, costs between $2000 to $4000. As the trust comprises all the documents required to establish the trust and power of attorney. If you are looking at the cost of a living trust in California, a will typically range between $400 to  $700.

However, these are only estimates and legal fees vary on the circumstances and the selection of an attorney. The state in which you are residing and the complexity of your situation also play a greater role in determining the cost of trust. 

For your information, the rates for individuals are lower than for a married couple.

An amazing advantage of a living trust is that it lets your estate be distributed and managed by your selected successor trustee, and you can skip the probate process as well. 

The Bottom Line

Conclusively, the best way to protect your assets in the event of an untimely passing is to have a living trust. Ideally, your assets should go wherever you want, but this is not always the case. To ensure that your assets are going exactly where they should go, the presence of a living trust is crucial. 

In case you are residing in California and wondering about a living trust attorney near me, an affordable living trust attorney near me, or a will and trust attorney near me, you can contact Herbert Law Office, who have a team of estate planning attorneys whose main aim is to protect your family assets.

For more information, visit the website today.