Pros And Cons Of Revocable Living Trusts

Creating a Last Will and Testament- Who Should Have One, and Why?

The sad truth is that most Financial Advisors and Estate Planning Attorney's will tell you that more than 70% of Americans die without a Will, also known as a Last Will and Testament. In my opinion, this is totally unacceptable! Why? Because I am fully confident that most of us:

- Truly love our family and loved ones

- Would prefer not to place any unnecessary or additional burden on our loved ones during a time of terrible emotional loss

Please allow me to explain why having a funeral estate plan is so important. Should you pass without so much as a Will, the unfortunate reality is that state law will determine how your property is distributed, as well as take control of your estate if you should you become disabled or incompetent. This statute is called the law of intestate. The best way I have found to describe intestate is simply;

Most Estate Planning Attorneys will agree that a better and more useful funeral estate planning tool is using a Trust, also known as a Revocable Living Trust. One of the most common questions most families ask is "What are the advantages of creating a Trust versus a Will"? Well, although a properly structured Will is a "must-have", one of the biggest disadvantages with having a simple Will is that every Will must go through probate.

What is Probate? Probate is a court supervised procedure by which the court ensures that the assets governed by your Will are valued properly, the debts of your estate are paid off, and the remaining assets are properly distributed to the persons named in your Will. The probate process is typically a negative experience, to say the least. Here is why:

It is expensive.

Legal and executor fees and other costs must be paid from your estate before anything can go to your heirs. The costs are usually estimated at 1-5% of the gross value of an estate (before debts are