Thinking about an estate plan? Have you heard the advantages of a living trust verses a will? If you do not have an estate plan in place the government has one for you. If you die without a will or living trust, your heirs will receive your estate after the probate process. This is not a good choice given the time and cost factors involved in probate. So you may have heard someone tell you to go online and find the legal documents to create your own estate plan.
First realize that a living trust is a good idea. And the sooner you get one the better. Of course in tough economic times the first thing people put at the end of their to do list is create an estate plan. People have better ways to spend their money than on something they will not need until they are dead they think. And, well, that is true. At the same time your heirs will appreciate the fact you took the time and spent the money to create an estate plan including a living trust. When they do not have to go through probate they will thank you for it.
But in some cases you need a legal professional to prepare the documents for you. This is true with estate planning. Perhaps you have seen deals on the internet offering you an estate plan for under one hundred dollars, or some such ad.
Before you order it and start checking the boxes and putting the form into your safe deposit box, you have realize there is more to a living trust than printing out forms and checking boxes. There have been several probate judges and probate lawyers who simply sigh and shake their heads when heirs to the deceased present such a pile of forms in court expecting to walk away with the estate of the box checker.
The law is full of details. Details are what need to make it all legal. One detail many forget or do not realize about a living trust is that property, both real and personal, must be transferred into the trust. This is not necessarily a difficult task but if not done properly the trust is not a legal document, it is a worthless piece of paper.
By the way a living trust is a better option than only having a will. A will is subject to probate in certain instances. Probate is a costly process and can take anywhere from six months to three years to complete, depending on the court's calendar. Also, when your estate is in probate and is open to the public. So any creditors to your estate have a public invitation to come and take. A living trust, properly prepared, is private not open to the public. Also, there is no probate required, again if prepared correctly.
However, there are so many details that people leave out of their plan that when the time comes for the designated beneficiaries to take possession of the estate the court has to step in and clear up the mess.
One of the most important steps people leave out is moving their possessions like their real estate into their trust. A living trust is a legal document only when it is prepared correctly and your estate is properly transferred into the trust itself.
The same holds true for most of the legal work you need to have done on your behalf. When it comes to legal documents, at least as far as legal trust is concerned, seek the legal professional for help.
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