There are some very useful things that revocable living trusts can do for you when you are planning your estate.
One of them is the ability to address the possibility of incapacity. Around 40% of people who are at least 85 are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and of course this is not the only cause of incapacitation. So, incapacity planning is a must.
With these trusts you can choose a disability trustee, and this individual or entity would be empowered to handle the assets that you placed into the trust in the event of your incapacitation.
A living trust also facilitates timely distributions of assets to your beneficiaries outside of the process of probate, which can be time-consuming and costly.
Those are a couple of things that a revocable living trust will accomplish, but here are three objectives that they don’t satisfy.
Asset Protection
We live in a litigious society, and many people must protect their assets. Because of the fact that you still have control of the resources that you placed into a revocable living trust they are not shielded from creditors or claimants.
Estate Tax Efficiency
The funds that you place into a revocable living trust are available to you while you are living, so they do in fact comprise a part of your taxable estate.
Medicaid Eligibility
You have to keep your countable resources at a minimum to qualify for Medicaid to pay for long-term care. Medicaid will in fact count assets that you have placed into a revocable living trust because you are retaining incidents of ownership.
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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