Sometimes people adopt a particular perspective without knowing all the facts. This can enter the realm of estate planning when it comes to living trusts.
You could assume that a living trust does the exact same thing as a last will. Why should you create a trust when a simple will can do the trick?
In reality, this is a shortsighted viewpoint, because there are a number of different reasons why a trust could be a better choice. Let’s look at some of them.
Efficient Asset Transfers
If you are like most people, you want your loved ones to receive their inheritances in a timely and efficient manner after you are gone. This will not happen if you use a last will as your primary asset transfer vehicle.
A will would be admitted to probate by the executor after your passing, and in New York, the Surrogate’s Court would supervise the administration of the estate. This process is time-consuming, and it can potentially be expensive.
With a living trust, things are entirely different. The trustee that you name in the trust declaration would be empowered to distribute assets to the beneficiaries outside of probate. As a result, they could start to receive their inheritances in a timely manner.
Accounting for Incapacity
Incapacity becomes a very real possibility once you reach an advanced age. If you do nothing to account for this contingency, the state could ultimately appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf.
If you have a living trust, you could empower a disability trustee to administer your living trust in the event of your incapacitation.
Measured Distributions
When you are devising your estate plan, you may decide that you would like to provide certain loved ones with limited assets over an extended period of time. This would prevent family members from burning through their inheritances too quickly.
There is no way to do this if you use a last will to distribute your property in lump sums. However, you can include spendthrift protections if you create a revocable living trust.
The trustee could be instructed to distribute assets on an incremental basis for an extended period of time.
Free Report on Living Trusts
As you can see from this brief overview, there are a number of different advantages that you would gain if you use a living trust instead of a last will. If you would like to obtain more detailed information about the value of living trusts, we are offering a valuable resource that you can access through this website.
Our firm has prepared an in-depth report on living trusts, and it is being offered free of charge at the present time. To obtain your copy of the special report, visit this page and follow the simple instructions: Free Living Trust Report.
Mark S. Eghrari, Estate Planning Attorney
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