The Trust includes all the documents necessary to establish the Trust, the powers of attorney, both financial and health-care related. The invention of the Living Trust dates back many years, and living trusts have saved countless millions of heirs, countless millions of hours and untold billions of dollars. We represent both trustees and beneficiaries in 26% estate litigation matters, including bankruptcy of wills and trusts, challenging trust accounts, and more. Both of these problems can be avoided by choosing an attorney you trust to create or update your estate plan.
The only way to ensure that your revocable life trust is maintained if you become incapacitated or after your death is to have an experienced, licensed attorney to help you draft the document. Even considering the cost of managing the trust after death, a trust is likely to be a smart choice and will save the estate thousands of dollars, not to mention time. You can add or remove assets to your trust at any time, giving you the flexibility to manage your revocable living trust. While a living trust isn't just for the wealthy, the amount of property and assets a person has is an important part of determining if they should get a living trust.
As you can see, it's worth hiring an experienced estate planning lawyer whom you trust to set up or update your estate plan. The main benefit of a living trust is that it can help its beneficiaries avoid the expense and delay of legalizing assets transferred to the living trust before their death. To understand why most lawyers charge too much for a living trust and why it's safe to do it yourself, it's helpful to know that a living trust is as easy to prepare as a will. With a revocable living trust, you will retain control of the assets you deposit in the trust, while with an irrevocable living trust you will permanently assign your assets and, therefore, relinquish control of them.
The client leaves with the signed trust and related documents, such as the will and power of attorney. Lawyers like us who write trusts are called estate planners (also called “wills, trusts, and estates”). An irrevocable living trust is permanent and any assets placed inside it cannot be removed without the express permission of all the individuals named in the trust. The California Bar Association has a certification for legal expertise in estate planning, trust and probate law, so you might consider seeking an attorney with that specialization.
