1. What is the difference between a revocable living trust and a will?
A revocable living trust is an estate planning document that manages your assets. You do not have to die for your revocable living trust to be useful. You must fund your trust by titling assets in the name of the trust. Funding your trust is essential to avoiding probate. A perk to having a revocable living trust is that by doing more work on the front-end, the probate process can be avoided upon your death.
A will is an estate planning document that indicates your wishes and desires upon your death. When you die, your executor may probate your will to open your estate. A perk to having a will is that there is less work and costs on the front-end.
2. What is a pour-over will?
A pour-over will is a fail-safe if any asset is not titled in the name of your trust. If your trust is properly funded, then your pour-over will will not have to be probated. Probate is the legal process that must occur when a person dies, and an estate must be opened on decedent’s behalf. Probate must occur in the probate court in the county where the decedent was a resident.
3. What is a trustee?
A trustee is the personal representative who has the authority act on behalf of the trust. For example, the trustee will have access to accounts titled in the name of the trust and make distributions to beneficiaries upon your death.
4. Who do people generally choose as their trustee?
The trustee should be responsible, organized, and trustworthy. Additionally, when choosing someone to serve in this role, consider whether being the trustee would be too much of an emotional, mental, and/or financial strain.
5. What should my trustee or successor trustee do once I die?
Once you die, your trustee should determine whether estate administration is necessary. Your executor should contact Bequest Law or another estate planning firm to make this determination.
6. Should I share my trust with someone?
One of the benefits to having a trust is that its contents will never be made public. You can choose to share copies of your trust with others or keep the contents of your trust private.
7. Do I need to file my trust with the court?
No, you do not have to file your trust with the court.
8. When should I update my trust and other documents?
You should update your trust when you have major life changes or when you want to change the representatives or beneficiaries within your trust. It is a good practice to allow an estate planning attorney to review your estate planning documents every seven years.
9. What if I move out of state?
If you move out of state, you should have an estate planning attorney within that new state review your trust to ensure that your document is legally valid.
10. What if the address of an agent who is listed in my estate plan changes?
If an agent has an address change, this is not a significant reason to update your estate plan. Your agent can still be contacted, for example by phone or email, if necessary.
11. Where should I keep my trust?
You can keep your trust in a fireproof safe. If you would like, you can inform your trustee or successor trustee exactly where to find the original copy of your trust in the event of your death.
We do not recommend placing your trust in a safe deposit box because once you die, only a co-signer would be able to access its contents. If there is no co-signor, your trustee or successor trustee would have to obtain a court order to access the safe deposit box.
12. What if I need to make a change or amendment to my trust?
A change or amendment to a trust is known as a restatement of trust. Please reach out to Bequest if you would like to execute a restatement of trust.
13. Should I inform someone that I listed them as a trustee or successor trustee, executor, guardian?
It is a great idea to have a conversation with someone before you list them as having a role within your estate plan. You may incorrectly assume this person would agree to the role and subsequently have to amend your estate plan if they do not want the role.
14. Do I need to retitle my cars in the name of the trust?
No, your Assignment of Personal Property transfers your cars to your trust.
15. Do I need to file a tax return for my revocable living trust?
There is no need to file a tax return for a revocable living trust. Your personal tax return will be used to report trust income that is more than $600.
16. Can I name my minor child as a trustee or successor trustee, executor, or guardian?
You should not name a minor as a trustee or successor trustee, executor, or guardian. The person you name should be able to serve in their role if you were to die tomorrow. Additionally, such roles are too much of a strain for a minor who is already navigating grief.
17. Can I just leave everything to one person and trust them to divide things?
The purpose of an estate plan is to ensure that your assets are distributed according to you. While it can be hard to imagine, after your death your loved ones may behave in ways that you never expected. It is best that you make the division of your assets to avoid turmoil.
18. Can I name the same person as trustee or successor trustee, executor, and guardian?
Yes. Naming the same person for these roles would allow him or her to smoothly carry out their duties. For example, if your guardian and successor trustee are the same person, your guardian would not have to request funds from the successor trustee. The guardian would automatically be able to access those funds.
19. What if I buy property down the road or start a business?
If you buy property in the future, you must title that property in the name of the trust. Additionally, your interest in a future business should be titled in the name of the trust. It is very important that you title later acquired assets in the name of your trust to avoid probate.
To set up a free 15 minute consultation to discuss your current estate plan or to start the estate planning process, please call (404) 500-7531, email hello@bequest.law, or go to our website bequest.law to fill out the new client inquiry form.