One thing people who have significant assets worry about is how much confusion might ensue once they have passed away and their assets are set to be disseminated to their heirs. One reason for these concerns is that, after a person passes away, their estate will likely enter into probate. Unfortunately, this legal process can drag on for many months, and it can interfere with the wishes of a decadent.
It’s estimated that as much as 5% of a person’s estate can be absorbed by legal fees and debt repayment. This occurs before any of the beneficiaries of the estate get anything. To prevent this, a living trust, which would be set up by a living trusts attorney, can be helpful.
Living trusts provide a vehicle to have a person’s estate transferred to another person designated as a trustee before a death ever occurs. This trustee can be anyone from an attorney to a business partner; however, a family member or a spouse will usually fill the role of trustee. In some situations, the estate owner can name themselves as the estate trustee until their death. Then, an alternate trustee can be named, thus allowing a person to have control over their estate during the time they are alive.
The first benefit of a living trust is that it helps avoid the probate process. All debts owned by an estate are handled by the estate and the trustee. Secondly, for people with significant assets, living trusts can greatly reduce the tax burden of an estate. While it won’t eliminate all of the taxes, it can take the sting out of taxes imposed on high-value estates.
Some trusts, especially for people with few assets, are simple to set up. For sizable estates, the help of a living trusts attorney could be crucial in setting up a proper trust and could make for an easy process of disseminating assets after you have died. It can also help prevent crippling taxes and legal fees that can rob your benefactors of their full inheritance. From every angle, setting up a living trust makes the most amount of sense.
