Industry News - Living Trusts

February 1, 2012

Many advantages to living trusts

Many inexperienced individuals have concerns about living trusts, expert Bonnie Kraham wrote in the Times Herald-Record, and may not fully understand their usefulness.

For example, Kraham notes that revocable living trusts allow individuals or households to plan ahead of time, but can also be adjusted later. As long as the person is alive and competent, they can adjust how the assets in a trust will be managed or disposed of and add assets to or remove them from the trust as circumstances change.

As long as it is properly written, the trust can be valid even when people move from one state to another. It also has estate tax planning advantages, since it can allow beneficiaries to avoid probate court and guardianship issues for assets in the event an individual becomes disabled.

Trusts can serve a variety of purposes, allowing individuals to exercise greater control over the future of their assets and minimize government involvement in determining that future. A professional lawyer or firm is generally needed to properly set up a trust, the source notes. When establishing a trust, it may also be appropriate to put any real estate into the trust, thus avoiding probate in whatever state the property is located.

When planning for the future, it may be appropriate to connect estate and financial planning to ensure they complement each other effectively. Professional accounting firms may have the expertise needed to accomplish both of these goals.