Attorney Thomas B. Burton discusses the top 3 reasons many people choose to use a Revocable Living Trust as part of their estate plan.
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Transcript of Video: Top 3 Reasons to Form a Revocable Living Trust
Today's topic: What are the three main
reasons to form a revocable living trust?
First, avoidance of probate. Probate
involves time and expense at its
shortest it's six months at its longest it's
two years or more you can plan to spend
three to five percent of your estate on
court filing fees, attorneys fees,
accountants fees, and related personal
representative fees if your estate goes
through probate so many times you'll
hear people do a revocable living trust
for the main reason of avoiding probate
and that in itself is a worthwhile goal
The second main reason people favor a
revocable living trust is privacy a Will
means your Will must be filed with
the court and becomes public record that
means anyone can look through it and see
exactly what you left to each person
with a revocable living trust it's a
private document it is not filed with
the court that's between you and your
trustee your trustee is someone you name
to administer your estate as part of
your trust
watch my other videos for more about how
revocable living trusts work and the
third reason to form a revocable living
trust is it can help you avoid the need
for a guardianship if you are ever
temporarily incapacitated or permanently
incapacitated due to mental or physical
disability as you get older sometimes
your ability to manage your own
financial affairs diminishes if your
assets are in a revocable living trust
your trustee can take over and manage
those assets for you while you're alive
until you're gone and after your death
if you do not have a revocable living
trust often the only alternative is for
your friends or relatives to petition
for a guardianship meaning the court
must appoint a guardian - who has the
legal authority to manage your assets
this is an expensive and often arduous
process it can cost anywhere from $3,000
to $6,000 to more for a contested
guardianship and it is often very
taxing on the person seeking the
guardianship and on the potential ward
so those are the three main reasons to
form a revocable living trust there's
many other good reasons but those are
some of the top three I hear about over
and over.
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Transcript and captions provided for ease of access for the hearing impaired.
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