ESTATE AND SUCCESSION PLANNING AVOIDS THE EXPENSE & UNCERTAINTY OF PROBATE

LIVING TRUSTS:
HOW YOUR
TRUST WORKS

After we prepare your trust documents, you simply transfer title to your major assets, like your home, to the name of the trust.  By naming yourself as the trustee, you retain control of your assets.  You can still buy, sell, trade, improve or spend your assets much like you could before the trust.  Also, you are free to change the terms of your trust or even terminate the trust, if you so desire.  

When you pass away, the assets in your trust will not need to pass through probate and there will be no court proceedings for your loved ones to endure.  Instead, whomever you named in the trust will immediately take over control of your assets and distribute them according to your instructions - without
court fees, statutory administrative fees, publicity or delays.  

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WHAT IS PROBATE?

Probate is the process by which the Court determines if you have a valid will.During this process, your creditors are invited by the Court to make claims for payment.  The Court determines the validity of the creditors’ claims and resolves disputes.  Your assets, if any are left after this process, are distributed to your loved ones as directed in your will.   If you have no valid will, then your assets are distributed, in another legal process, under the laws of what is called intestate succession.  Probate is a slow-moving process involving complicated legal paper work and lots of bureaucratic red tape that typically last a year or more and delays the distribution of your property to your loved ones.

PROBATE PROCEEDINGS ARE MADE A PART OF THE PUBLIC RECORD

In Probate, your will and all of your financial affairs are all made public.  In fact, the Court requires the world to be put on notice of the probating of your estate via publication in newspapers.  As a result, anyone and everyone, including salesmen, realtors, disgruntled family members, or scam artists is free to examine your personal finances in detail to see what you have left to whom and where your beneficiaries live.

ESTATE PLANNING: TAKING CONTROL AND PLANNING FOR INCAPACITY

At some point in your life, through age, accident, or illness, you will likely find you are no longer willing or capable to manage your finances or care for yourself.  If you find yourself in this situation and you have not set up a plan, your loved ones will be forced to endure court-supervised conservatorship proceedings for as long as you live.  While probate fees are expensive, the cost of conservatorship for the rest of your life can be shocking.  They involve constant court costs and paying an independent convservator to manage your assets.  

By setting up a living trust, health care power of attorney, and related documents now, while you are healthy, you can eliminate the need for a conservatorship in the future.  In the event you are incapacitated, the trust is already in place to manage and control your assets in accordance with your wishes until your death.