If you are creating an estate plan, you might be not be doing yourself any favors if you don't go beyond the will. While a will is an irreplaceable and a vital part of your total estate plan, a revocable trust can work in tandem with a will to make a complete plan. Read on to learn how surprisingly easy this form of estate planning can be.
What is a revocable trust?
A trust is a legal document just like a will and you will find many similarities between a trust and a will. The trust, like a will, is not used until a person passes away. The trust's owner creates the trust documents prior to death and appoints someone to oversee it, known as the trustee. There are many different types of trusts in use and they can cover many different situations but a revocable trust is created specifically for dealing with estate matters. The revocable part of the term means that the trust's owner is free to change any part of the trust while still living. They can do away with the trust altogether, add to it or remove provisions at will.
A trust trumps a will
One of the most unique qualities of a revocable trust is how it will nullify certain bequests in a will. Take the following example: George's will sets forth Polly as a beneficiary of his collection of rare coins. George meets with an estate attorney and decides to create a revocable trust in addition to his will. In the trust, George directs that his rare coin collection should go to the local museum. Aunt Polly is out of luck, the local museum will get the coins due to the mention in the revocable trust. The reason for this is that the trust is actually in-force prior to the owner's death whereas a will is not.
Property and privacy
If you can bequeath it in a will you can include in the trust as well. Any type of property can be included in a revocable trust and furthermore, the trust is completely private. As you may know, a will must be filed in the local court of probate where it may become public record. Additionally, a will is of one piece; its reading and distribution will inform any and all connected to the estate of its contents. Not so with a trust; only the beneficiary will know of only their own property disposition.
To learn more about this convenient and private manner of skipping probate for some of your property, speak to an estate planning attorney or law firm as soon as possible.
Share20 May 2018
When I began the divorce process, I knew that I wanted to change my name back to my maiden name. I no longer wanted to be associated with the family name of the man that I was divorcing. The problem was, I have three kids that all had their father's name. I wanted to know if I would be able to change their last names to my maiden name rather than having them carry that family's name for the rest of their lives. I found out a lot about what it would take and began working to create this blog to help other women wanting to do the same thing.
