You may have heard the term “living trust” and always wondered what it is and if you and your family could use one. The short answer is: a living trust is a legal document that is drawn up, while the parties are still alive, as a way to disperse an individuals’ assets once he or she has died. After the trust is drawn up, it offers the individual who has had it prepared the peace of mind that his assets will be dispersed according to his wishes.
As part of drawing up the Arizona living trust, a trustee is chosen. The trustee will administer the assets of the trust. You can choose a family member, friend or even your law firm or attorney to be the trustee. Once the trustee has been chosen he will be in possession of the legal title of the property on behalf of the person who will eventually be the beneficiary.
Because the living trust is drawn up while the owner of the property or asset is still living, it can benefit the beneficiary immediately. Bear in mind that living trusts are revocable in nature – meaning that the owner of the property can make changes to the document at any time.
Much like a will, the trust can be utilized for any type of property and offers the property or asset owner myriad options for its distribution. To work properly, the property must be transferred from the owner’s name into the name of the living trust.
The benefits of a trust are numerous including the fact that the property that’s been transferred to the trust will not be subject to probate and this can save your heirs time and money. An individual can also manage his own living trust while making provisions for another individual to serve as trustee when the property owner is no longer able to do so.
A level of privacy is also offered to the holder of a living trust; the reason for that is that the assets will not be made public once the property owner passes away. The estate, its value and its individual holdings will remain private.
Individuals with large estates are partial to living trusts because of the fact that the heirs are saved the expense of probate and can maintain their estate’s privacy after his death.
While it is possible to draw up a living trust without the aid of an attorney, it is advisable to have a legal professional look it over to make certain both you and your assets are properly protected.
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If you are not sure as to what legal document you currently have contact one of our professionals to help you with your estate planning. They will make sure you have all of your grounds covered and have the right legal documents that best suite your wants and needs.
