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A Living Will explains to your family whether you want life prolonging measures taken when you are in a terminal state. It expresses your wishes and informs your family of those wishes. It also significantly reduces the guilt for those individuals
having to make those very difficult decisions, should you
become terminal.
Avoiding Probate - Revocable Living Trusts (saving significant costs)
Many individuals desire to “avoid probate” as part of their
estate plan. Avoiding probate is an approach by which a
person arranges his or her assets in a way that the individual’s assets go directly to his or her beneficiaries at death. Then there is no need to have these assets go through an estate, through “probate.”
Avoiding probate does not save taxes. Regular, good planning does that. Avoiding probate does reduce the time it takes to get the assets to your beneficiaries. It also significantly reduces the attorney fees that would be required in an estate proceeding, as the need for an attorney is significantly reduced.
As an example, a $200,000 estate, probate avoidance can save $6,000 to $8,000 in costs and attorney fees.
Avoiding probate is accomplished through the use of financial accounts, which allow you to name a beneficiary or
beneficiaries and placing real estate and some other assets in a Revocable Living Trust, with you or someone else as the Trustees(s). This approach still requires a will. Continuing care are must be taken to remember the plan and how assets need to be titled or beneficiaries designated, when new assets are purchased, like vehicles or real estate, or when new accounts are established or an individual changes banks.
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Next: Avoiding Probate (continued)
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