3 Reasons To Set Up A Living Trust Right Now

If you want to ensure that your assets are handled exactly how you want them to be during your lifetime, and when you pass, you will want to set up a living trust. With a living trust, your assets will be taken care of properly during your lifetime for your benefit, and when you pass, they will go to your designated beneficiaries.  

Reason #1: Stay Out of Probate 

When you don't plan for your assets and die with any type of wealth, the court has to determine what will happen with your assets. This is a process that is called probate. It can be a costly and lengthy process that can eat into your assets, leaving less than intended for your beneficiaries. Also, with probate, the courts decide what happens to your assets, not you, so your assets may be distributed in a way that you didn't intend them to be.  

When you set up a living trust, when you die, your assets are then moved to a successor trustee, your beneficiaries, according to the set-up of your trust. None of your assets must go through probate, the courts are not involved, and what you do with your things is kept private. 

Reason #2: Save Money 

Second, failing to plan can be costly. When your assets go through probate, the process isn't free. The cost of the legal process is taken away from the wealth you had left, leaving those that you intended to get it with less. Plus, the tax implications will be different. 

Setting up a living trust will cost a little money; however, you will save your heirs a lot of money as well. Probate costs will not eat up your wealth, and assets can be directly passed to heirs without the same tax implications. You will get to leave more when you plan better. 

Reason #3: Privacy Protection 

Third, a living trust will be a great way to protect your privacy. The information inside of it is private and is not to be shared with others. There are no records created that are part of the public record; everything that happens in private, between you, your lawyer, and the beneficiaries in the trust.  

If you want to have peace of mind that your assets and wealth are safeguarded during your lifetime and that they will pass on to the beneficiaries that you want to have them, without any of the information becoming public, you will want to set up a living trust.  

For information on online living trust solutions, contact a financial planning specialist.