Some people who have heard about the existence of revocable living trusts shy away from them because they don’t understand exactly how they work.
There is no reason to decide against something before you understand the facts. You can always schedule a free consultation with our firm to learn about revocable living trusts, and we invite you to do so if you are interested.
Let’s take a look at three frequently asked questions about revocable living trusts here.
Do I surrender control of assets placed into the trust?
The answer to this question is no. You can act as both the trustee and the beneficiary while you are still alive. You name a secondary trustee who administers the funds according to your wishes at the time of your death, and you name a beneficiary or beneficiaries who would receive distributions out of the trust after your passing.
Will the assets get into the hands of the beneficiaries in a timely manner?
You may have heard that it can take time for the heirs to an estate to actually receive their inheritances. This is true when you use a last will to direct asset transfers, because the heirs do not receive their inheritances until the process of probate has run its course.
With a living trust you avoid probate, so the assets will in fact be distributed to your heirs in a timely manner.
What happens if I become incapacitated?
This is another one of the benefits of a revocable living trust. When you create the trust you can name a disability trustee. If you were to become incapacitated, perhaps due to Alzheimer’s induced dementia, your hand-picked trustee would be empowered to handle the assets that you placed into the trust.
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
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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