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A revocable living
trust is an instrument used instead of a Will. The Revocable
Living Trust can provide the following five advantages
over a Will:
- AVOIDS PROBATE
- CONTROL DISTRIBUTION TIMES TO
BENEFICIARIES: eg. (1/3 at 24 1/3 at 28 and the balance at
32)
- PRIVATE INSTRUMENT: wills are open
to the public and can be accessed in either the appropriate
District or Probate Court after one's death.
- BUILT IN CONSERVATOR: If you become
incapacitated the persons you have named as successor
trustees can come in and manage your trust funds on your
behalf. You picked the persons you wanted and there is no
need for a conservatorship hearing for the assets properly
placed in the trust.
- ASSET PROTECTION: The trust will
protect assets of the named beneficiaries after your death
and before outright distribution to the beneficiary.
Funding Instructions: A trust needs to be
funded therefore we will provide you with an instruction sheet showing you how
to fund your trust. We will also include in our trust package, Pour over
Wills: instruments to catch assets not properly placed in the trust and
to put the assets into the trust after going through probate, Trust
Affidavit: proof that a trust is in existence (when transferring your
assets to the trust third parties will want to see this document to know there
really is a trust), Declaration of Trust: instrument used to
transfer your assets to the trust, Deed Transfers: we will
transfer your Colorado real property (houses, vacant lots, cabins) to your
trust, Personal Property Memorandum: allows you to list personal
property items so that they go to specific persons, Asset Locator
sheet: allows you to list all of your assets and information about them
so that your trustee can find the assets and appropriately take care of them.
Burial Instructions: allows you to specify how you want your
burial including such things as flowers & music.
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The most important part of
your trust is your trustee. This is the person who will manage
your trust upon you death or incapacity. You need to choose
someone who has similar values to you. The other major component
in your trust is your beneficiaries. These are the persons who
will inherit under your trust. As mentioned you can pick
different ages for them to receive at or they can receive upon
your demise. The trust should not have any effect on your income
taxes since all assets will remain under your social security
number and your tax returns will continue to look the same.
The most important item in having an effective revocable living
trust is that the trust must be funded. If assets are not properly placed into the
trust then that particular asset will have to go through the
probate process; thus eliminating some of the major advantages
of the trust.
Finally, it should be
noted that the trust is revocable. As such you can make
changes to the trust as long as you are competent. You can
even revoke the trust in it’s entirety. The aforementioned
trust package prepared by a licensed Colorado attorney costs
$500.00.
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