What are the advantages of a living trust? It is important to understand that the advantages are not just for when a family member passes away. They also offer benefits for the living.
Avoid Guardianship or Conservatorship Proceedings
In case you become incapacitated, why subject your loved ones and your property to the restrictive rules of guardianship or conservatorship? Creating a living trust involves naming a successor trustee who can step in and manage the trust for you if you are no longer able to do so.
After following the trust’s provisions for determining your incapacity, your successor trustee can take control of your trust assets without the interference of the court.
Keep Things Private via a Living Trust
Probate is a public proceeding. Anyone can go to the courthouse and take a look at each and every document filed there, including your will. One of the advantages of a living trust is maintaining your loved ones and your own privacy.
Trust documents are never filed with a court so they do not become a public record.
No-Contest Clause in a Living Trust
A No-Contest clause in your living trust states that if a person contests your trust in Court, that person will receive no property from the trust. This can be added if you are concerned that a person, for whatever reason, may contest trust. However if the trust includes no benefit to that person, that person has “nothing to lose” should they contest the trust. In this situation, giving a potential contestant a small monetary gift may discourage that person from contesting in court. While this may seem counterintuitive, they now have “skin in the game” and risk losing the small gift if they contest the trust as a whole.