• Wills are important in the naming of executor(s) and determining who will have a say over your loved one’s welfare. Also, they work well for giving instructions about your funeral, burial, and other decisions that can only be made after you die.
• A living trust is a legal arrangement, which is drawn up during your lifetime. This document is similar to a will, but there are significant differences. With a trust, you specify exactly what you want to happen to your estate while you are still alive, and when you die, the trustee is able to carry out your instructions without waiting to complete the probate process, which can sometimes take years to complete depending on complexities and in-fighting with heirs. A will comes into play only when the estate holder dies. With a living trust, the process is shorter and the assets will be transferred to your chosen beneficiaries when you die. Trusts can be used for the purpose of skipping probate, reducing your tax burden, reducing the legal costs associated with hiring an attorney, paying court costs for probate, and protecting your beneficiaries from excessive taxation upon your death. In addition, they can safeguard the interest of your loved ones with special needs without compromising their benefits. There are different types of living trusts, including revocable and irrevocable trusts. It is important to understand the differences before taking that important step.   Living trusts are often beneficial for people who have complex financial affairs and those with multiple beneficiaries.  The costs associated with having an attorney create a will or a trust are significantly different.  However, having a trust and keeping assets out of probate will almost always offset the difference in those costs.
  • Revocable Trust: If you set up a revocable trust, you have the option to make changes during your lifetime. As the grantor, you can modify the rules or even cancel the trust whenever you want. During your lifetime, your trust may generate interest, and this money will go to you, the grantor. When you die, your assets will be passed to your beneficiaries, but you can benefit from your trust, while  Revocable trusts offer flexibility, and they also provide the grantor with the ability to benefit from the trust at the same time as enjoying peace of mind that arrangements are in place for the trust to be transferred to beneficiaries after death. When the grantor dies, the trust becomes irrevocable.
  • Irrevocable Trust: An irrevocable trust cannot be modified or adjusted by the grantor without the permission of the beneficiaries. When you set up an irrevocable trust, you essentially lose control of ownership of the assets, and you transfer the trust to your beneficiaries. An irrevocable trust is the opposite to a revocable trust, which can be adjusted by the grantor at any time without any input from the beneficiaries. The most common reason people establish an irrevocable trust is to minimize estate taxes. As ownership passes to the beneficiaries, the assets protected by the trust are no longer taxable as part of the individual’s estate. Examples of assets that may be included in an irrevocable trust include insurance policies, cash, and business investments.

In addition to planning for your will or trust, you should consider the importance of having the following: