Most people are going to have to choose between a will and a trust when they are making estate plans, and there are some significant advantages that go along with opting for a revocable living trust.
When you use a revocable living trust you can enable the transfer of assets to your loved ones outside of the process of probate. Probate is a legal process during which the probate court that is local to the deceased supervises the administration of the estate. The actual hands-on tasks are performed by the executor or personal representative.
This legal process can be quite time-consuming, and the heirs to the estate do not receive their inheritances until the probate court has done its work. There are also significant costs that are going to be incurred during the probate process and every penny spent is money that could have otherwise gone to the family of the deceased.
However, if you do use a trust you are still going to need to execute a particular type of will called a pour-over will.
You are probably going to have assets in your own personal possession when you die even if you do have a revocable living trust that contains the lion’s share of your resources. The pour-over will is utilized to express your desire to direct these remaining assets into the trust after you pass away.
To learn more about trusts, wills, and other estate planning tools simply take a moment to arrange for an informative consultation with a licensed and experienced Indianapolis Estate Planning lawyer.
Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
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