One of the most common tools used in estate planning is a will, but there are reasons revocable living trusts are often better than plain wills. If you are getting ready to visit an estate planning attorney to begin working on your will, you may want to discuss revocable living trusts with your attorney. You might find that this is a better option for you, and here are two reasons this may be true.

Trusts let you avoid probate

One of the big differences between wills and revocable living trusts is the way your assets are divided after you die. When you die and have a will only, the entire estate will have to go through the probate court process.

The probate process involves going to court to have a judge order the legal transfer of your assets to your beneficiaries. Not only does the probate process take a lot of time to complete, but it can also be expensive. This means your beneficiaries might not receive as much money from you when they die.

In addition, the details of your will become public knowledge when probate court is used to settle an estate. If you want to avoid this, you may want to consider choosing a revocable living trust instead of a will, because probate will be necessary if you only have a will.

With a revocable living trust, your estate will not go through probate. The trust allows you lawyer to handle the entire estate without ever setting foot in a courtroom. This means your beneficiaries will receive their inheritances sooner and with less stress.

Trusts let you determine when your assets will be transferred

If you choose a trust over a will, you will also have the advantage of stating when you want your assets passed on to your beneficiaries. You might decide to state that the transfer will occur immediately after you die, or you might want to ration it out in portions over the years. This is not something you can do with a will.

When you have a will, you can state who will receive your assets, but you cannot include stipulations, such as time frames.

There are pros and cons of both types of estate planning tools, but one might be better than the other for your situation. If you are not sure which is right for you, talk to an estate planning attorney like one from Great Plains Diversified Services Inc to get advice, information, and suggestions.

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