First―What is a living trust?
A living trust lets you manage your assets such as money, property, and business interests, with you as the one in charge as trustee. It also provides for how you want your assets managed if you are unable to do so. In those situations, a successor trustee named by you will manage your assets to your benefit during your lifetime and then distribute those assets to your beneficiaries as named in your trust without going through and paying a court.
Trusts can be set up to be revocable in case you want to change your mind at a future date. We can help you decide which option is right for you. While trusts are more complicated to set up and maintain, they offer more protection than a will alone. You can set the trust up yourself, which we do not recommend, or we can provide help with set-up and along the way, in a manner appropriate for your wishes and assets.
Our next post will outline the steps for setting up a trust, with subsequent posts explaining the process for each. Our goal is to help everyone get comfortable with the basics, and ease your path to working with us on your own estate plan.