Are you looking for ways to maximize your estate planning and ensure that you have a comprehensive plan in place? Plenty of people in California turn to the benefits provided by a living trust to accomplish these goals. A living trust attorney can help you decide how to start your living trust and give you the support needed to move forward. Knowing how to use a living trust enables you to get the maximum benefit out of your planning.
Without doing any of your estate planning, you leave the decisions up to the court in terms of what happens to your assets. When you leverage tools like a trust created by a living trust attorney, you have much more of an opportunity to exercise your wishes, make things easier for your loved ones and chosen beneficiaries, and preserve family relationships after you’re gone. Here are five major benefits to using a living trust.
1.You Can Create a Legally Compliant Living Trust
Some people are under the impression that there are no legal tools available for estate planning and asset protection planning purposes. That’s simply not true; a living trust in California is a fully legal estate planning strategy and document that you can use to pull assets outside of your probated estate and away from your individual ownership.
Some mistakes could jeopardize the success of your living trust, however. Do not create a living trust without the help of a California living trust lawyer to give you maximum peace of mind regarding your use of this strategy.
2.You Can Fund the Trust
The creation of the trust is just part one; ask any living trust attorney in California. The second step for proper planning is to retitle all of the intended property into ownership by the trust. The retitling process, also known as “funding the trust,” is a crucial step for achieving the maximum protection of your property.
You can pass on some of your property to loved ones in other ways, such as a life insurance policy payout for your chosen beneficiaries or a retirement account with benefits inside. A living trust is an excellent option if you want your assets to be given:
- At your discretion;
- On a schedule; or
- Outside of probate.
3.You Can Select a Trustee
Most people opt to be the trustee of this tool while they’re still alive. A living trust gives you maximal opportunities because you have the right to change it during your lifetime. To revoke the trust or move assets into and out of it, you’ll want to name yourself as the trustee.
When you pass away, if there are still assets inside the trust, your successor trustee will become responsible for the management and distribution of those assets. You get to decide who this person is, another significant benefit of a living trust in California.
4.You Can Amend the Trust if Needed
An irrevocable trust, which is different from this concept, means that you cannot make any changes to the trust. Thankfully, a living trust in California empowers you with many options, and you can always adapt your trust as needed. Or speak to your attorney about a revocable trust.
5.You Can Include Additional Documents to Maximize the Estate Planning Benefits
There are other tools and documents you can use to get the most out of your estate planning strategy. A living trust is just one component of an overall strategy. Ensuring that your wishes are reflected in the trust might mean including other documents to explain your thinking or strategy.
While a living trust can do a lot for you, it’s often just one piece of a larger puzzle around estate planning needs. Along with a will, powers of attorney, and other documents, you can cover many of your bases by passing on assets to your loved ones and ensuring that there are protections in place if something should happen to you.
Why Choose California Probate and Trust, PC to Draft Your California Living Trust?
Getting support from an experienced estate planning attorney helps you preserve peace of mind and family relationships. At California Probate and Trust, PC, we work hard to get to know you from the outset of the relationship and help you create a plan for today and tomorrow. You might not know what tomorrow can bring, but you’ll know that you’re prepared for it by working with the experienced estate planning attorneys and the team at California Probate and Trust, PC.
Avoiding mistakes in creating your living trust allows you to get the most out of your planning options. For a living trust to function as expected and give you the protection needed the small details matter. Due to our strong background in this area, we know how to think about all the issues you should consider when developing an estate planning strategy. Schedule a consultation with us today at 916-674-2066 to learn more.
Get a copy of our free guide, The 7 Reasons Why You Need An Estate Plan by calling our 24-hour hotline at 916-603-2782. Leave us your name, phone number, and mailing address and we’ll send the guide to you ASAP.
Listen to California Probate and Trust, PC and Estate Planning Attorney R. Dustin MacFarlane explain the difference between a will and a trust on his podcast, Legally Speaking.
The information in this blog post (“post”) is provided for general informational purposes only and may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction. No information contained in this post should be construed as legal advice from the individual author or the law firm, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in the recipient’s state, country or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.
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California Probate and Trust, PC
9701 Fair Oaks Blvd
Fair Oaks, CA 95628
Phone: 916-674-2066
https://cpt.law/
