Advantages of a Revocable Living Trust
by JJ Childers
This week's Monday Morning Mentor Minute
JJ Childers, with more about the advantages of having a Revocable Living Trust in place.
If you have assets that need to be managed properly, such as a business, stock portfolio, real estate investments, etc. then you need to have a living trust in place. Why? That’s simple. Upon your death or incapacitation, a living trust will direct the court as to how your assets should be managed according to your exact wishes. Now if you have outlined this in your will, that’s great, but you must still have a living trust to hold your will. You see, a will must still go through probate. A will can also be contested by family or the unscrupulous types we discussed last. And remember, a will is public. All your assets, their values and your directives for who will manage and control them is laid out for the world to see.
A living trust, on the other hand, is NOT public and it cannot be contested. It is your instruction, your procedure manual, if you will, for how you want your assets managed, by whom and for how long. A living trust can specifically outline the distribution of those assets to your heirs, even controlling how much is given, when it is given and to whom it is given. You can literally control your assets from the grave and make certain that all that you have worked so hard for is preserved for and distributed to the people you intended for it to go.
