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Living Trusts

Our Living Trust services offer a flexible and effective solution for managing your assets during your lifetime and ensuring a seamless transfer of wealth to your beneficiaries. With a Revocable Living Trust, you retain control over your assets while providing privacy, avoiding probate, and potentially reducing estate taxes. Our experienced team will guide you through the process of establishing and maintaining a Revocable Living Trust tailored to your specific needs, giving you peace of mind that your estate will be managed according to your wishes.

Take Control of Your Future Now

What is the difference between a will and a trust?

Many people use the terms “will” and “trust” interchangeably, but they actually serve different purposes in estate planning. Both a will and a trust allow you to decide what happens to your assets after you pass away, but a trust can offer additional benefits that a will cannot provide.

One key difference between a will and a trust is that a will is a legal document that is subject to probate court, which is a public process that ensures your debts are paid and your assets are distributed according to your wishes. On the other hand, a trust is a fiduciary relationship between a grantor (the person creating the trust) and a trustee (the person managing the assets in the trust). When you create a trust, you transfer ownership of your assets to the trust, which then manages them according to your instructions.

Unlike wills, trusts are not considered public records. So when you pass, the entire process is private. This means that your assets can be distributed to your beneficiaries without court intervention, which can save your loved ones time and money. Additionally, revocable or living trusts can be changed as your needs and situation change. This means that you can alter the terms of the trust during your lifetime without having to go through a lengthy court process.

There are many different aspects of the estate planning process that our attorneys are intimately familiar with, including the use of wills, trusts, and other legal instruments to ensure that your assets are distributed according to your wishes. We’ll discuss your unique situation and help create a custom roadmap to ensure your wishes are always upheld. Whether you need a simple will or a complex trust, our team can guide you through the estate planning process and help you achieve peace of mind.

Protecting your future should be simple

A revocable trust, which is also commonly referred to as a revocable living trust, is a legal document that can be customized to your specific wishes regarding the distribution of your assets upon your passing. With a revocable trust, your assets are transferred or funded to the trust, and a trustee is named to manage the assets held by the trust. The trustee must act in the best interest of the trust and its beneficiaries, and in some cases, a professional trustee such as a law firm may be chosen.

The trust provides a way to transfer and distribute assets to your beneficiaries without having to go through the lengthy and costly probate process, which can tie up your assets for months or even years. By avoiding probate, the assets can be distributed more quickly and with greater privacy. Additionally, trusts may offer certain tax advantages, such as reducing estate taxes, which can help protect your assets and preserve your wealth for your loved ones.

Trusts are a valuable tool for those who want to ensure their wishes are followed after they pass away, and they can be especially beneficial for those with complex estates or unique circumstances. By working with an experienced estate planning attorney, you can create a revocable trust that meets your specific needs and provides peace of mind for you and your loved ones.

"Trust" in us To Protect Your Future

As you go through life, you work hard to create a legacy that you can pass down to your loved ones, providing them with the best opportunities possible. While some people may believe that trusts are only necessary for the wealthy, this is not the case.

Trusts, along with other estate planning tools such as wills, can be used to create a comprehensive plan for the future that ensures your wishes are carried out. Whether you live in Texas, New Mexico, or Washington, our team of experienced attorneys is dedicated to helping you achieve your estate planning goals.

Our process starts with a simple conversation where we get to know you and your unique needs. You can contact us at (469) 706-0338 to schedule a no-obligation consultation with one of our attorneys today.

Frequently asked questions

Estate Planning involves preparing for the well-being of you and your loved ones during and after your life. This involves drafting legal documents that specify your desires for medical care, children’s care, and asset distribution.

Depending on your age, different types of estate planning may be necessary. For instance, after turning 18, a financial power of attorney and healthcare power of attorney may be useful in the event of incapacity or hospitalization. As you age or accumulate assets, it becomes important to protect those assets, plan for your children’s future, and determine how their inheritance will be handled.

Finally, creating a comprehensive estate plan at 65 or older is crucial for guiding your family and preserving your legacy.

We have an easy, 3-step process designed to have your trust and other estate planning documents created and signed in 2 to 4 weeks:

* The first step is to attend your Take Control of Your Future Now Session. You’ll fill out a secure online questionnaire (“Family Profile”) before we meet so we can make the best use of our time together. At this Zoom session, you’ll learn all about your options and our flat fees. When you are ready to move forward, we’ll email you an engagement letter and invoice, both of which can be executed online.

* Next is your Estate Plan Design Meeting. We’ll roll up our sleeves and design your trust and other estate planning documents, working off the information you provided in your Family Profile. After this session, I’ll draft your documents, and send a copy for your review about two weeks later. We’ll then make any changes or updates you’d like to make. When everything is good to go, we’ll coordinate an in-person Signing Ceremony.

*Your Signing Ceremony is where you’ll sign your documents with the proper legal formalities, in front of two witnesses and a notary. We can have this session at our office, your home, or in a Zoom meeting. Following execution of the documents, we are available for free, unlimited lifetime consultations regarding your estate plan.

Let me start by saying what we do NOT need! We do NOT need account statements, social security numbers, or tax returns. We DO need information on what kind of assets you own (house, retirement account, life insurance, etc.), their relative value, and how they are titled (jointly, individually, etc.) Beyond that, we simply need answers to questions about your personal estate planning preferences, including:

* Who you would want raising your minor children if something happened to you and your spouse or partner

* Who you want to be in charge of your children’s money until they are old enough to mange it themselves

* Who you want making medical and financial decisions for you in the event of your incapacity

Don’t worry if you don’t have the answers to these questions right away! You’ll have plenty of time to think things over throughout the process.

Our process is designed to have your estate planning documents signed within 2-4 weeks of your Take Control of Your Future Now Session. It depends in part on your schedule and how long it takes for you to review your draft documents.

To prepare for the future, there are various documents that you should include in your estate plan, each with different purposes. Consulting with an attorney is crucial in deciding which documents you require. The following is some of the common estate plan documents:

  • Last Will and Testament;
  • Revocable Living Trust and Pour Over Will;
  • Children’s Trust;
  • Special Needs Trust;
  • Financial Durable Power of Attorney;
  • Health Care Power of Attorney;
  • Living Will and Advance Care Plan;
  • HIPAA Release.

 

Additionally, you should update your beneficiary designations and create a Letter of Instruction or Intent to clarify your intentions after you pass away.

It depends! Estate planning is not one size fits all, so it’s hard for us to give you a quote without knowing more about you. Even if you believe your situation is relatively simple, there are likely nuances you are not considering. We discuss our fees and process at length in the Peace of Mind Planning Session, after we have counseled you on all your options. We do not discuss our fees outside the Peace of Mind Planning Session.

We understand that cost is an important factor in choosing an attorney, and that estate planning is a significant investment for many. It is our goal to be as transparent and fair as possible. For that reason, we offer flat fees as opposed to billing by the hour, so you know exactly what your investment will be. We also offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you are not happy with our services, we will make it right, or refund your money.

Finally, we will only recommend planning with us if the amount you would save by doing an estate plan is greater than our fee.

You nominate legal guardians in a Will, or a Pour-Over Will that goes along with your Revocable Living Trust. If you pass away without nominating guardians, a judge will make the decision for you. You also run the risk that family members will fight over who gets custody because you didn’t make your preference clear.

Our firm goes the extra mile and helps you nominate short-term guardians to care for your children in the interim while the long-term guardians are appointed. And did you know you can “confidentially exclude” people you would never want raising your children no matter what? We can help with that!

You have two options with your estate planning: a will-based plan, or a living trust-based plan. The vast majority of my clients choose a living trust. A living trust is a document where you appoint a chosen individual to manage your assets should you become incapacitated and distribute them to your family at your death. It is almost always preferable to a will because it is designed to avoid the time, expense, and publicity of probate, which a will cannot avoid.

It comes as a surprise to many of my clients that wills do not avoid probate court…they guarantee it!

I go over the difference between a will and a living trust in depth during the Take Control of Your Future Now Session. The most common question I get at the end of this session is, “Why would anybody ever do a will?!” Ultimately, however, the decision is yours

Probate is the court-supervised process of administering your estate upon your death. If you die without a will, your estate must go through probate before all your money can be distributed to your heirs. And if you die WITH a will…your estate still has to go through probate! The only way to avoid probate is with a revocable living trust.

What’s so bad about probate? Even a simple probate can take years to complete and eats up as much as 5-7% of the estate assets in the meantime. It’s also a public proceeding that makes your will available to anybody who wants to look at it.

Although a will is subject to the probate process, a living trust is designed to bypass it completely.

Unfortunately, even a simple will is still subject to the expense and delays of probate. It’s not the complexity of the document itself that cause the time and expense, it’s the probate process itself. For this reason, most of my clients choose to create a living trust instead of a will, which is designed for simplicity and to avoid the probate process completely.

However, as part of an overall, comprehensive estate plan, a special “pour-over” will is used to appoint guardians for any minor children alive at your death.

 

Estate planning in putting legal documents in place that ensure your assets will go to the people you want, the way you want, when you are gone. It’s about making this as easy as possible on your loved ones during an otherwise difficult time. And we all care about that, no matter how much (or little) money we have.

It’s also about appointing people to manage your property and make health care decisions for you if you are incapacitated, something that matters to all of us regardless of wealth status.

A power of attorney lets you appoint someone to manage your property in the event of your incapacity. You will name someone you trust implicitly as your “agent”. They will step into your shoes and pay your bills, file your taxes, manage your business, etc. if you cannot.

We include a power of attorney for both spouses in every estate plan we create.

 
A living will (not to be confused with a living trust or last will and testament) allows you to make certain medical decisions regarding end-of-life decisions, ahead of time.
 

We include a health care proxy and living will for both spouses in every estate plan we create.

 

All other estate planning documents (power of attorney, health care proxy, etc.) are typically recreated as it is more cost-effective.

The main point is that your documents can (and probably will be) updated as your life, your assets, and the law all change.

 
Unfortunately, if you die without getting this in writing, your estate could end up in the hands of that distant cousin you’ve met twice.
 
And it’s important for everyone to have a Health Care Proxy and Financial Power of Attorney.
The information contained here has been prepared for informational purpose only and not legal advice. The use of this website and the sending or receipt of information does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and My Estate Law Group.
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