The legal device called a revocable living trust may be the ideal centerpiece of your estate plan. You do not have to be extremely wealthy to reap the benefits, and this is something that many people do not understand.
In legal terms, if you were to establish a living trust, you would be called the grantor or settlor. There is a trustee who would take care of the trust administration duties, and there would also be beneficiaries who would receive monetary distributions from the trust.
You are allowed to act as the trustee and the beneficiary while you are still living, and most people do assume these roles. As a result, there is no loss of control. In the trust declaration, you would name a successor trustee to manage the trust after your death, and you would also name your heirs as successor beneficiaries.
Funding a Living Trust
Funding a trust is the act of conveying assets into the trust. To do this, you would change the ownership registration and make the trust the owner of property that you want to convey into it. Since you would be the trustee and the beneficiary, you would still have control of the assets throughout your life.
The property that is being placed in the trust could be listed in the trust declaration, or you could list the property on a separate document called a schedule. We should point out the fact that you can place additional property into the trust at any time.
For one reason or another, you may have property in your personal possession at the time of your passing that was never conveyed into your living trust. To account for this, you could include a pour-over will when you are creating your estate planning documents. This type of will would allow the trust to assume ownership of assets that were in your personal possession.
Obtain More Detailed Information
If you have always wanted to gain an understanding of the value of living trusts, we can provide you with a learning opportunity. Our firm has prepared an in-depth special report on living trusts. This report is being offered free of charge at the present time, and you can access your copy through this page: Free Report on Revocable Living Trusts.
Take Direct Action
Written information is important, and we make every effort to provide resources on our website. We update this blog regularly, and we encourage you to bookmark it. However, there is no substitute for a face-to-face meeting with a licensed estate planning attorney.
We can help if you are ready to take action. To schedule a no obligation consultation, send us a message through this page: Indianapolis IN Estate Planning Attorneys.
To learn more, please download our free use a revocable or irrevocable trust in Indiana here.
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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