Living Trusts

Help with Living Trusts from a Pembroke Pines Estate
Planning Lawyer

A living trust is an estate-planning tool designed to take the place of a will. The primary purpose of a living trust is to avoid any court involvement such as a guardianship proceeding in the event of your disability or a probate proceeding upon your death.

A living trust looks and sounds like a will because it addresses what is to happen to your estate upon your death. What distinguishes it from a will though is that it also addresses what is to happen to your assets while you are alive. In most cases, the living trust will require that all assets in the trust are to be used for your benefit during your lifetime.

A living trust requires the appointment of a trustee. In most cases, that will be you. As a result, you will own and control your trust. While you are alive, you can live off the income in the trust, manage the assets in the trust, even dissolve the trust if you so desire. The trust is fully revocable and can be managed or changed at your discretion. A living trust also requires a successor trustee to step in if you become disabled or die. In most cases, people will designate their friends or family, but you can designate an institutional trustee such as a bank or an attorney to serve as trustee.

Transferring Your Assets

In order to make the trust effective, you must transfer your assets to your trust. That is just a process of re-titling, and while it may sound complex, it is in fact very simple to do. A living trust will make your estate much less expensive to settle. Since assets in the trust don't have to go through probate, the attorney's fees and court costs associated with probate are eliminated. The savings could be as much as three to five percent of the value of your estate. An experienced Pembroke Pines probate attorney from the firm can help you easily navigate this process.

Contact a Pembroke Pines Estate Planning Lawyer