If you want to make a plan for the future, you may think about a living trust. Also called a revocable trust, this type of legal framework can offer solutions to your estate planning dilemmas. A last will and testament cannot begin to touch what a living trust can do for your estate. Let’s look at some of the advantages of opening a living trust.

Take Care of Yourself

With a living trust, you plan what will happen with your assets while you are living. You can also plan for if you should become incapacitated or incompetent. 

Making a living will gives you the power to plan for issues that can occur while you are alive should you become unable to care for yourself. You decide what level of care you will receive and who should act as your representative should you become incapacitated or incompetent. 

As part of your trust, you can name a Durable Power of Attorney and a Health Care Power of Attorney. These are the people who will care for your health care decisions and financial estate. You can also include an Advance Directive that lets everyone know where you stand on issues such as IV nutrition, dialysis, and resuscitation.

These documents provide for you if you suffer a medical event or accident that leaves you unable to care for yourself or your estate. In a living will, you can still use the money in the trust for your own needs until you die. You can be the Trustee of your own Living Will and name someone else who will implement the terms of the trust if you become too sick. Based on what you’ve stated in your trust documents, the money is meted out to whoever needs it.

Take Care of Your Heirs

As a parent, you want to care for your kids, but often they are too irresponsible until they reach a certain point. That age of understanding how to use money responsibly comes later for some kids. With a living trust, you can choose to leave money to someone who can give the money to the irresponsible child in increments. Or you could choose to allow it to be spent only for medical bills or education. You can also base the inheritance payouts on age markers or length of time holding down a full-time job. 

The freedom to help your heirs with their needs is almost limitless. A living trust can be an important tool for helping your heirs manage their inheritance for what they need rather than blowing it all at once.

A living trust can also make sure that your assets are not given to creditors that your child may owe money to. A child who goes through bankruptcy could lose all of an inheritance. Having a trust that gives funds out in increments can prevent the foolishness of bad financial decisions from ruining their inheritance. 

Avoid Probate

A living trust can help you maintain greater control over your assets while you are alive and also after you leave this world. Any property or assets passed on through a will do go through probate court after you die. They are a matter of public record along with your will. Anyone can make claims on your estate in probate court including past creditors or debt collectors. 

The probate process can also cost money for attorneys if family members or others choose to dispute your will. Sometimes, it can take up to three years for probate to be settled and for the heirs to receive their inheritance. It can also eat into the value of your estate in court fees and payment for your estate administrator.  

A living trust can save your heirs time and money. Whatever is in your trust does NOT pass into probate. The trust does not become public record and there are no disputes about who will receive property or assets. There are no attorney fees that the court must payout from your estate. 

Pour-Over Will

North Carolina allows what is called a “pour-over will.” This allows your property that is named in your will to “pour” into your trust, at your death. This is a way to avoid probate because everything in your trust is protected from probate. 

Consider Your Goals

In North Carolina, if your estate is worth less than $20,000 ($30,000 for a couple), someone can petition the court to avoid probate. Otherwise, your estate would retain more assets and pass on to heirs more quickly through a living trust. Having a will is good if your estate is small, but with enough to care for yourself while still alive and to give some to heirs after you die, you may want to consider the advantages of a living trust.

Seek Help

If you are confused about how best to make your estate plan and what documents to include, consult a knowledgeable estate planning attorney who can walk you through the process. An attorney can help you understand all of the issues in North Carolina law that you will need to consider. 

At Vail Gardner Law, we specialize in estate planning and want to help you make the best plan for yourself and your family, whether that involves a living trust or another type of estate planning. We are here for you and ready to help you show love to your family by planning for the future.