WILLS & TRUSTS

Wills & Trusts

A will or a trust is the cornerstone of any estate plan. These documents primarily convey your wishes regarding who and how your assets are distributed after your death. The difference is that a will doesn’t take effect until your death: a trust can help you preserve and increase your estate while you’re alive, and offers protection should you become mentally disabled.

A Last Will and Testament is a legal document that describes how your assets should be distributed in the event of death. The gifts made in a will may be general or specific and may be made to as many different beneficiaries as the testator (creator of the will) wishes. Along with serving as a vehicle for making gifts of estate assets, a will is the only opportunity the parent of a minor child has to indicate who the parent would want to serve as Guardian for the minor child if one is ever needed.

The actual distribution, however, is controlled by a legal process called probate. Upon your death, the Will becomes a public document available for inspection by all comers. And, once your will enters the probate process, it’s no longer controlled by your family, but by the court and probate attorneys. Probate can be cumbersome, time-consuming, expensive, and emotionally traumatic during a family’s time of grief and vulnerability. Con artists and others with less-than-pure financial motives have been known to use their knowledge about the contents of a will to prey on survivors.



A Living Trust avoids probate because your property is owned by the trust, so technically there’s nothing for the probate courts to administer. Whomever you name as your “successor trustee” gains control of your assets and distributes them exactly according to your instructions. There is one other crucial difference: a will doesn’t take effect until your death, and is therefore no help to you during lifetime planning, an increasingly important consideration since Americans are now living longer. A living trust can help you preserve and increase your estate while you’re alive, and offers protection should you become mentally disabled.

Not only does a living trust provide for the disposition of your property (like a will), but it also offers the following benefits:

• Provides for the immediate transfer or trust management and distribution in the future of assets after death
• Allows for a smooth transition of management upon incapacity or death
• Avoids the expense and hassle of probate proceedings
• Minimizes estate taxes and defers payment of estate taxes for married couples
• Allows for continued control over assets after death or incapacity
• Provides security to you and your loved ones
• Protects your children’s inheritance from their own potential divorce
• Safeguards your estate for your kids if your surviving spouse remarries
• Offers flexibility