A living trust is an estate planning tool that allows you, among other things, to protect assets from the probate process. Additional benefits include the increased ease of controlling your assets after death, ease of transfer after death, the ability to prevent a business, farm, partnership interest, investments, etc., from losses while tied-up in probate, and certain tax-mitigation options. There is also greatly increased privacy, the trust documents are private while a will (and the probate process) are public. Further, the living trust may allow for increased options during a period of incapacity. The trust can be changed during the lifetime of the person forming the trust, and hence is “revocable”.
While living trusts are great tools, they are not for everyone or every circumstance. If used, it is critical that the living trust be properly structured to handle the assets that will be placed into the trust and to accomplish the goals of the person forming the trust. At Sorrell Law Firm, we spend a great deal of time and money every year keeping up with the latest trends and innovations, changes in the law, and following legal scholarship and court rulings in order to offer our clients sophisticated solutions designed to accomplish their goals.