What To Expect When Forming a Revocable Living Trust
Once you decide that a living trust is the right option for you, we ask that you complete a questionnaire to tell us a little about yourself and your situation. After we receive your completed questionnaire, the attorney’s paralegal will contact you to schedule a teleconference to discuss your estate plan.
During the teleconference, your attorney will ask questions regarding how your estate will be distributed to your heirs, who will control this distribution, if you want to compensate your successor trustee, etc. You have the ability to customize your estate plan in many different ways. At Anderson, we believe there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to estate planning.
Once you have received your living trust documents, it is important to execute your documents as soon as possible, meaning you must sign your trust and have it notarized to make it legal. We will assist you with funding your trust and can prepare any amendments you need if something changes.
Anderson can also deed your personal residence into your living trust so that all of your assets are owned in one place. Once these steps have been completed, you will not need any more intervention from our legal team – you have full control of your trust and after, your passing or incapacitation, your trustee will handle the distribution of your assets. Of course, we will still be here to assist you with questions or changes that need to be made.
Living Trust Preparation Experience You Can Trust
Whether you are only setting up a living trust, or are including this in your business structure, you can feel confident that your affairs will be in order and we can ensure your business ownership is assigned to your living trust for the seamless distribution of your company assets after your passing.
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Plan Your Living Trust Before It Is Too Late
Unfortunately, most people only plan in times of crisis. We have had too many instances where individuals and families call our office when someone is in the hospital or when a crisis comes about in their lives.
This is not the ideal time to plan. This is a time where you should be able to take comfort in knowing that your plan is already in place and then be able to be emotionally present for the ones you love.
How to Form a Revocable Living Trust
When most people think about estate planning, wills, probate, and legal fees and complexity come to mind. What many don’t know is that there is an easier, less costly way to plan their estates and provide for their families.
Revocable living trusts put you in control, not a judge or even a third party. While the initial cost of a will is less than that of a living trust, the savings come after your passing. The national average cost of probate is 4% of the estate and, on average, takes 18 months from start to finish throughout a lengthy court proceeding.
Help your loved ones avoid these delays and costs while remaining in control of your estate during your lifetime by forming a revocable living trust with Anderson.
The employees at Anderson all have unique different skills. It’s really hard for any one person to have all the answers. It’s so neat to have the community and the package together in one organization. If you don’t have the answer or another advisor doesn’t have the answer, they are going to go find it out for you and help you really get to where you need to be.
Carl F.
Preserve
Individualized tax planning to help you keep as much of your money in your pocket as possible.
Protect
Asset protection strategies and solutions to shield your assets and limit personal liability.
Prosper
Retirement and financial planning and wealth management strategies to maximize what you already have.
Difference Between Living Trust vs. Will
A living trust, once signed, notarized, and funded, is a legally binding document that guarantees your plan for your estate will be executed as you wish.
This is the confidence that a will cannot provide because, even though it is a legal document, it is subject to probate, where it is scrutinized and can be threatened.
| Living Trust | Will | |
| Prepared by a lawyer | ✔ | ✔ |
| Distributes your assets to family and loved ones | ✔ | ✔ |
| Titles assets directly into it for ease of distribution | ✔ | |
| Appoints a guardian for your minor children | ✔* | ✔ |
| Deal with all of your property under the laws of the state you choose, rather than under separate probates in each state where the property exists | ✔ | |
| Maintains privacy and confidentiality; not a matter of public record | ✔ | |
| Trustee retains control of the distribution of property, rather than a judge | ✔ | |
| Assets can be distributed without the cost of hiring a lawyer for lengthy and costly probate proceedings | ✔ |
*When a pour-over will is included. Anderson includes a pour-over will with all of their living trusts.
At Anderson, We Draft an Entire Estate Plan Not Just a Living Trust or a Will
Anderson understands that you need more than just a will or a living trust. That is why we only draft comprehensive estate plans that include:
- An Introduction and Overview that details and summarizes your trust-based estate plan.
- The actual Living Trust, as most recently amended or restated, that is the foundation of your estate plan. It contains instructions for your own care and the care of your family if you become disabled, as well as for the distribution of your assets upon your death. Your Revocable Living Trust allows you to keep your instructions and financial affairs private and ensures that your instructions are carried out efficiently without unnecessary judicial involvement. Since it is revocable this may be amended at any time until you pass.
- Your Pour-Over Will transfers any assets that you do not transfer into your trust during your lifetime. We like to think of this as a catch-all in case assets are inadvertently left outside of the trust. The Pour-Over Will takes these assets and puts them under the control of the trust.
- A Personal Property Memorandum that specifically outlines to whom your specific personal effects are distributed upon your death. This document reduces the family conflicts that arise over family heirlooms and personal collections. As they say, “Grieving and Greed” go together.
- Specific Funding Instructions that will explain how to transfer your assets to your Revocable Trust so that they will avoid probate.
- Healthcare Power of Attorneys that designate an agent that you specifically choose to make medical care decisions for you in the event you cannot express your wishes or make the decisions for yourself. This is one of the most important documents in a time of crisis.
- A Living Will that informs your doctors that you do or you do not want extraordinary medical measures taken in the event you are incapacitated to prolong your life. This document backs up your Healthcare Power of Attorney.
- Durable or Financial Power of Attorneys is a document in which you appoint a person to make decisions regarding your property and finances without the hassle of going to court to have a person appointed for you should you become incapacitated.
- A Certificate of Trust streamlines the process when a financial institution or others in the event they request a copy of your Revocable Living Trust. This keeps the personal and financial information that is contained in the trust private.
Finally, your Memorial Instructions are detailed so that this burden is taken off of your family and heirs. This document outlines your wishes for your services.
Unlimited Amendments for Life
When you create your living trust with Anderson, you simultaneously secure your family’s financial future and avoid the high costs of probate. Now, you also have the opportunity to avoid even further costs with unlimited amendments to your living trust for life for $995.
Normally, changes to one document within your estate plan cost $500. Since every estate plan that Anderson Advisors creates for our clients includes a living trust, a pour-over will, and financial and healthcare powers of attorney, that means that one change to all of your documents — just one! — could cost $1500.
Please note that amendments are limited to one change per client per year. This means that you can amend multiple documents once a year, as long as they’re all amended at the same time.
The need for amendments to your living trust can be spurred by major life events, such as a birth or death, and can include changing the successor trustee, beneficiary(ies), and distribution provisions.
With unlimited amendments to your living trust for life, you can relax knowing you can make those changes or updates whenever you need to without being hit with additional costs. To learn more, call Anderson Advisors now at 800.706.4741.
Anderson Advisors FAQ
What is a living trust?
A trust is an arrangement under which one person, called a trustee, holds legal title to property for another person, called a beneficiary. You can be the trustee of your own living trust, keeping full control over all property held in trust.
How does a living trust avoid probate?
Property you transfer into a living trust before your death doesn’t go through probate. The successor trustee — the person you appoint to handle the trust after your death — simply transfers ownership to the beneficiaries you named in the trust. In many cases, the whole process takes only a few weeks, and there are no lawyer or court fees to pay. When all of the property has been transferred to the beneficiaries, the living trust ceases to exist.
Is it expensive to create a living trust?
A basic living trust isn’t much more complicated than a will, but provides a quicker turnaround. Compared to a will, living trusts can save you money in the end. Contact us today to see how we can help save you money.
