For starters, a living trust allows your heirs to avoid probate, an often costly and time-consuming legal process used to distribute your assets. With a trust, the distribution is handled within the trust documents. Because the trust technically owns the assets, no probate is required.
Unlike a will, the details of your trust are not public record. That means your estate remains private and your loved ones are protected from would-be con artists and overly aggressive sales people looking for a quick bargain.
A trust also gives you some options that you can’t get with a will. You can create incentives for your heirs for example, allowing them to increase the amount of their inheritance by achieving certain goals and objectives. Perhaps you set up the trust to match whatever income they earn on their own or to encourage higher education, your heirs can receive a bonus if they graduate college.
Likewise, you can use your trust to ensure that heirs with behavioral problems or addictions get help before inheriting a large sum of money.
Another one of the benefits of a living trust is that it also streamlines the entire distribution process, allowing you to create a legacy that can provide for multiple generations to come.
If you're still having trouble choosing between a will or living trust for you estate planning purposes, speak with the living trust lawyers at Anderson, Dorn & Rader, Ltd.
While no one likes to think about a time when they're no longer around, we all secretly wonder the same things: Will my spouse have enough to live on when I'm not there? Will I be able to leave a legacy for my children? Will the family home stay in the family, or will it have to be sold to pay off creditors and taxes? This is why estate planning is important and necessary.
Estate planning is simply a way to protect your assets and your loved ones by creating legally valid documents that address a variety of concerns. Do you have a child that has special needs? Then a special needs trust might be the solution for you. This type of trust allows you to provide for a disabled or incapacitated dependent without affecting their eligibility for government-assistance programs. This trust can also be a component of a larger family trust, often called a Living Trust, that shields your assets from probate, minimizes taxes and even provides a way to give your heirs incentives for going to college, getting a job and similar personal growth accomplishments.
A good estate plan will also include a Powers of Attorney which are documents designed to designate someone to step in and speak on your behalf in financial and medical matters. In addition, you should have Advance Directives (a living will and health care power of attorney) that tells your healthcare providers how to handle life support and resuscitation matters.
In a nutshell, your estate plan is something you really can't do without and it's important that you have all of the key essentials. Hire an estate planning attorney! Anderson, Dorn & Rader, Ltd. has experienced estate planning lawyers that you can trust.
While a living trust and living will may sound similar they are actually two quite different things.
A living trust is designed to help protect and distribute your assets. The assets are actually titled in the name of the trust and depending upon the terms of your trust, you may have complete control or hand the management of the trust over to someone else. Upon your death, beneficiaries receive the assets according to your terms in the trust. A method of avoiding probate, it’s a way of bypassing the lengthy and often expensive court process of distributing your assets.
A living will, however, is a legal way of informing your physician what you want done in case of a terminal condition. It’s used when you can no longer communicate your wishes due to an injury or illness that leaves you incapacitated. Your living will should be accompanied by a health care power of attorney. This document designates a person to speak on your behalf and relay your wishes with regard to certain medical treatments and decisions. It might relate to resuscitation, feeding tubes, etc. These "advance directives" also give loved ones peace of mind knowing that they are doing what you would have wanted.
It’s highly recommended that everyone draw up advance directives including a living will and a health care power of attorney, whereas a living trust is especially beneficial for those with a certain level of assets. To get help with a living will or living trust, a good estate planning attorney is your best bet.
