According to Caring.com, a third of Americans saw a greater need for estate planning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are considering options for estate planning, you may begin your search by researching wills. However, wills have a few downsides that can make them an inferior option for distributing your assets when your time has come. A living trust puts you in control of your assets and helps you avoid probate, a process that takes your assets out of you and your family's hands.

Wills and Probate

Wills are legal documents that dictate how a person's assets are distributed after they die. However, wills do not go into effect immediately after someone dies. It needs to be validated by a probate court before your assets and final wishes are carried out. Wills are also not effective if you are incapacitated before you pass away. A probate court can take control of your will if this occurs.

Probate is a process where a probate court takes control of your will and assets. The court makes sure your debts and taxes are paid before distributing your assets. A big reason that people don't like probate courts is that they take the control out of the family's hands.

Another reason people dislike probate is that it is expensive. Probate attorneys, court fees, executor fees, and other costs have to be paid by the family before the assets are distributed. If the deceased has property in multiple states, the costs are compounded because the probate needs to go through multiple courts.

Probate is also a public process. All of your debts, assets, and final wishes are public records. The people you give your assets to are also noted in the court documents. This means people you did not include in the will can see what is happening and dispute it, causing the distribution process to take even longer. A living trust can help you bypass these problems and others associated with wills and probate.

The Advantages of Living Trusts

Living trusts are similar to wills in that they dictate how your assets are distributed after you die. However, living trusts stay in your control and don't have to go through probate, even if you are incapacitated or otherwise unable to be a trustee.

The trustee runs the trust and makes all of the decisions. However, the trustee does not own the assets put into the trust. In fact, no one owns these assets besides the trust. Since you are putting all of your assets into the trust, you legally own nothing. At the time of your death, the probate court cannot come for your assets because you do not own them anymore.

You can still control the assets in your trust, as the trustee. That means you can buy and sell assets, change the distribution of your assets, or even cancel the trust entirely. You will work with an estate planning attorney to transfer titles of assets to the trust and make the necessary changes. If you don't want to or cannot administrate the trust, you can assign your spouse or one of your children as the trustee. You can work with them or give them total control to handle the financials of the trust.

If you take the role of trustee, you will need to assign a successor trustee in the event you become incapacitated or die. The successor will then administrate the trust according to your wishes, without interference from a probate court. Your assets can even stay in your trust for decades until the recipients reach a predetermined age you set.

You will still need a pour-over will to catch assets you may not have assigned to the trust. This is a safety net that ensures all of your assets are distributed to some plan, and not seized by an undesired party.

If you are searching for assistance in setting up your living trust, look no further than Golden Legacy Estate Planning Inc. We are affordable legal help for all aspect of estate planning, including wills and handling probate. Allow us to put our 33 years of experience to work for you. Call today or visit our website to schedule a free appointment.