Benefits of a Revocable Living Trust
by JJ Childers
This week's Monday Morning Mentor Minute
Hi this is JJ Childers. We have been talking about the overall benefits of a Revocable Living Trust. Right now I want to look at these benefits a little more closely.
I mentioned that a trust can help you avoid probate and the publicity associated with probate. So what is so important about avoiding probate?
Well, probate is a method, established by the government, for passing your assets on to your heirs. Sounds like a good thing for the most part, but as with anything established by the government, there are always fees for these services. Substantial fees at times that can chisel away the assets that you are leaving for your loved ones.
Also, probate is very public. That means that everyone now knows how much you are passing to your heirs and exactly what those assets are. Do you think unscrupulous types study the public notices for opportunities to make a quick buck? Of course they do. We hear about it with celebrities all the time, but what about the rest of us? It still happens all the time. And when those people come out of the woodwork claiming to have rights to your estate, it not only causes emotional trauma for your family, it can tie up your estate in probate courts for, quite literally, years. This keeps your family from having access to the very assets that you intended to provide for them in the event of your death or incapacitation.
More about the benefits of Revocable Living Trusts next time.
