July 23, 2019

Have you already heard about the various types of estate planning tools and documents most commonly created and referenced by people in your state? There’s no doubt that living trust has turned up in your search of key estate planning documents, but how do you know if you need one or not?

What’s the primary benefit of establishing a living trust? And is a will enough to accomplish your estate planning goals?

Most people choose to establish a living trust because it gives them some level of control and flexibility over what happens with beneficiary designations, the structure of the trust and key people involved in the process. An irrevocable trust, on the other hand, can be created once and cannot be altered once established. Those people who may have interests now that they wish to protect and add some layer of privacy and remove from probate, enables them to structure the living trust so that it matches the needs of your life now, but can later be updated.

The circumstances of your life are likely to change over the course of the years. You might know that you need a living trust right now to give you some level of control, privacy and protection from probate, but it’s also likely that you might want to update some things inside the trust or eliminate certain provisions in the trust as your beneficiaries get older or as your unique needs alter. Having an established relationship with an estate planning attorney can assist you with this process because a living trust is a valuable tool to return to as your life circumstances change.