Who Should Have a Revocable Living Trust?

Individuals for whom the use of a Revocable Living Trust as the primary method of disposing of assets at death offers a clear advantage over a will include:

• Individuals to whom the following benefits are important:
• Retained control over assets
• Ability to change or revoke estate plan (i.e. flexibility)
• Probate avoidance at death
• Ancillary Administration (i.e. foreign probate) avoidance at death if property is owned in more than one state
• Privacy
• Less cost and delay than probate administration resulting in faster distributions to beneficiaries
• Increased control over timing and nature of inheritances
• Can provide for family members with special needs
• Protection against incompetence by avoidance of court-supervised guardianship
• No required Probate Court annual accountings, as required for Testamentary Trusts created under wills
• Federal Estate Tax planning
• Peace of mind
• People who intend to leave their property to individuals who are not their closest relatives, to favor a second spouse and children over a first family, or to intentionally cut out one or more close relatives for personal reasons. A living trust may have an advantage over a will in such cases because the objectant to a living trust must begin a proceeding to challenge the terms of the living trust, whereas the objectant to a will simply files his objections to the nominated executor's petition for probate. Also since a living trust is not a public document, its terms are more likely to remain private, lessening the likelihood that disgruntled heirs will learn of its existence or its provisions.
• Investment and management of grantor's assets during his lifetime. A revocable lifetime trust permits a grantor who wishes to relieve himself of the burdens of property investment and management to do so by shifting these burdens to an experienced trustee.