Creating Your Estate Plan
We all want the certainty that we will be around for our family and can protect them and provide for them. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that we will be always be there when our family needs us. Most of us do not like to think about death or plan for it, but it an inevitable part of life. We can gain a sense of tranquility and peace by planning for our future and setting up a plan to provide for our families.
How a Living Trust Can Help You Protect Your Family
When you plan for your future you can set up a plan that outlines how you want to protect your family and provide for them. A living trust offers you a way to detail how you want to ensure that your children, spouse, and relatives are taken care. It gives you the option to select which relatives and friends receive the assets you own.
What Happens When I Do Not Have a Living Trust or Estate Plan?
When there is no living trust or will in place at the time of your death, then California’s probate laws will control who receives your estate assets. Instead of your wishes and desires controlling who receives your money and property, the laws of the state will decide who your beneficiaries are. This can lead to unexpected results where family and friends that you wish to provide for receive nothing.
What Are The Benefits Of A Living Trust?
When you create a living trust you will have the benefit of:
- Selecting Your Beneficiaries-You will select the people who you wish to receive your property and money. You can detail which property you want each beneficiary to have.
- You Can Create Protections for Your Beneficiaries-A living trust allows you to address concerns and create protections for beneficiaries that have a disability, substance abuse problems or issues with managing money.
- You Will Avoid The Time And Cost of Probate-Generally when there is no will or trust your property will have to go through probate to be distributed. It can be a lengthy process that can take 1 to 2 years to complete. In most cases you will have to hire an attorney to assist you through the probate process. A probate attorney can be costly as they are allowed to charge a percentage based on the value of your estate.
- Example: If you have a home worth $800,000, a probate attorney can charge 4% of the first $100,000, then 3% of the next $100,000 and 2% of the next $800,000. In this case the probate attorney could charge for this estate: $19,000.