Talking about your own demise is not exactly an uplifting subject to discuss. If you’re like a lot of people in Texas, you may think you don’t need to contemplate death or what will happen to your assets and possessions until you are old and gray. However, it is never too early to think about securing the future for your loved ones.
If you die without some sort of estate plan in place, the government will control how to distribute your possessions through the laws of intestate succession. This is why it is critically important to start estate planning now instead of putting it off for later. These days, many families are choosing to create revocable living trusts to secure their estate. Here are some benefits of revocable living trusts and why they make great estate planning tools.
Avoiding probate
A revocable living trust, also called a living trust, is basically a legal document that allows a trustee to manage designated property and assets for you and your beneficiaries during your lifetime. One big advantage of trusts is their ability to avoid the probate process. Probate is a court process of distributing your assets and possessions after you die and often takes many months to complete. Since items in a living trust legally belong to the trust, the probate courts do not have to oversee the distribution of those assets upon your death.
Privacy
Probate is not only time-consuming and expensive, but it is also a public proceeding. Anything that goes through probate is a part of the public record. Since living trusts avoid probate, your property and assets in the trust remain private.
Protection if you become incapacitated
With a living trust, you can also detail what should happen if you become incapacitated. In the trust, you can designate a trustee to manage your affairs. You can allow your trustee to make distributions on your behalf, pay your bills and even file your tax returns.
Flexibility
The flexibility allowed by a revocable living trust is a primary benefit. If you create a revocable living trust, you can change it at any time. You will have access to your property and assets that are within your trust during your lifetime, and you can even dissolve the trust if needed.
Help with estate planning
Revocable living trusts are great estate planning tools that have a multitude of benefits. However, once you begin to dive into the world of estate planning, you may feel overwhelmed or even confused as to what would be the best move to make for you and your family. Fortunately, there is assistance readily available to help you create a plan that secures all matters for the future.
