US LIVING TRUSTS

Living trusts allow you to control who gets your assets after you die. A trust is a legal instrument that creates a fiduciary relationship between one party ("trustee") holding legal title to another's property for their ("beneficiary") benefit.

A trust allows you to gather together in one document all your significant property. This is important if you want to make sure that your property is distributed quickly & easily after your death. The trust, not you, owns that property.

Most of us know that upon our demise, a succession of fees and taxes will eat into our estates, no matter their size, if we don't plan now to protect them. Many of us still postpone this process because we hesitate to summon the outside legal assistance that's traditionally required.

ADVANTAGES OF A LIVING TRUST

A living trust can help your beneficiaries avoid the expense and delay of probate. Probate can last as long as three years and can take up to 10% of your estate's value. In addition, a living trust can provide you with more privacy than a will because you don't have to register it with the courts in probate.

No one likes to think about their eventual departure from this earth, but since we can’t live forever and you can’t take your material possessions with you - estate planning is essential to ensure that your wishes are carried out when you are gone.

ESTATE PLANNING

Estate planning is more than just a simple will. What would happen to you and your assets should you become incapacitated? Who will make decisions concerning your health, your possessions, and your finances? Who would care for your children if you and your spouse died at the same time? Estate planning is contingency planning & decision-making in advance of its necessity, and it can provide you and your family with peace of mind.

Properly drafted and executed, a living trust can avoid probate and certain estate taxes because the trust owns the assets, not the deceased. Only property in the deceased's name must go through probate. A living trust also allows you to hand over management of your assets to someone else if you are unable to manage your assets yourself.