Why Does a Living Trust Cost More than a Will? It will probably cost more initially to set up a well-drafted living trust than to have a will prepared. A true cost comparison should include not only the expense to establish the will or trust, but also what it will cost should you become incapacitated and after you die. The Key Takeaways: A living trust document has more provisions than a will because it deals with issues while you are living and after you die, while a will only deals with issues that occur after your death. A properly prepared and funded living trust will avoid court proceedings at incapacity and death. A will provides no such protection and can, in fact, ensure court intervention at both events, which can be very costly (in time, privacy and dollars) to your family. Instructions at Death and Incapacity Both a will and a living trust contain instructions for distributing your assets after you die. But a living trust also contains your instructions for managing your assets and your care should you become incapacitated. A Living Trust Avoids the Costs of Court Interference at Incapacity and Death A properly prepared and funded living trust (one that holds all of your assets) will avoid the need for a court guardianship and/or conservatorship if you become incapacitated. The person(s) you select will be able to manage your care and your assets privately, with no court interference. A will can only go into effect at your death, so it can provide no instructions regarding incapacity. In that case, your family would almost certainly have to ask the court to establish a guardianship and/or conservatorship for your care and your assets–a process that is public, time consuming, expensive and difficult to end. What You Need to Know. The same living trust document that can keep you out of a court guardianship at incapacity can also keep your family out of probate court when you die. But a will must go through probate. Depending on where you live, this can be costly and time consuming. Costs to Transfer Assets…Pay Now or Later There may be some minor costs to transfer assets into your living trust when you set it up, and then from your trust to your beneficiaries after you die. But these will be minimal if you and your successor trustee do much of the work yourselves. With a will, the probate court (with its costs and attorney fees) is the only way to transfer your assets to your heirs after you die. So you can pay now to set up your trust and transfer titles, or you can pay the courts and attorneys to do this for you after you die. Actions to Consider. Find out what probate costs are where you live. If your state has a fee schedule based on the value of probate assets, this will be fairly easy. If it has “reasonable” fees, ask an attorney to estimate what these fees would be if you die tomorrow and, if you are married, if your spouse dies the next day. Similarly, ask your attorney to estimate what the costs would be if you become incapacitated tomorrow and, if you are married, if your spouse becomes incapacitated the next day. (Practically speaking, this will be impossible to estimate because no one will be able to predict how long the incapacity will last or what complications might arise. The mere uncertainty of these costs should give you pause–and propel you to plan for incapacity). Add these estimates to the cost of having a will prepared–and compare that to the cost of a living trust. When you make a true comparison, you may conclude that having a living trust actually costs less than a will. : The Law Center PC
Why Does a Living Trust Cost More than a Will?
On Behalf of The Law Center P.C | Nov 5, 2013 | Uncategorized |
Categories
- Blog (29)
- Child Custody (95)
- Criminal Defense (7)
- Divorce (48)
- DivorceAdd Category (6)
- Domestic Violence (25)
- Estate Planning (5)
- Family Law (25)
- Firm News (1)
- High Asset Divorce (80)
- Injuries (1)
- Military Divorce (22)
- None (1)
- Property Division (65)
- Spousal Support And Child Support (8)
- Test Category (10)
- Uncategorized (64)
Archives
- May 2022 (2)
- April 2022 (4)
- March 2022 (3)
- February 2022 (3)
- January 2022 (5)
- December 2021 (3)
- November 2021 (3)
- October 2021 (4)
- September 2021 (5)
- August 2021 (3)
- July 2021 (5)
- June 2021 (5)
- May 2021 (3)
- April 2021 (4)
- March 2021 (4)
- February 2021 (4)
- January 2021 (4)
- December 2020 (3)
- November 2020 (5)
- October 2020 (4)
- September 2020 (4)
- August 2020 (10)
- July 2020 (6)
- June 2020 (2)
- May 2020 (4)
- April 2020 (2)
- March 2020 (4)
- February 2020 (2)
- January 2020 (3)
- December 2019 (4)
- November 2019 (2)
- October 2019 (4)
- September 2019 (2)
- August 2019 (5)
- July 2019 (4)
- June 2019 (3)
- May 2019 (5)
- April 2019 (5)
- March 2019 (5)
- February 2019 (5)
- January 2019 (4)
- December 2018 (3)
- November 2018 (4)
- October 2018 (2)
- September 2018 (2)
- August 2018 (6)
- July 2018 (4)
- June 2018 (2)
- May 2018 (3)
- April 2018 (2)
- March 2018 (6)
- February 2018 (7)
- January 2018 (4)
- December 2017 (6)
- November 2017 (7)
- October 2017 (8)
- September 2017 (7)
- August 2017 (8)
- July 2017 (6)
- June 2017 (6)
- May 2017 (7)
- April 2017 (7)
- March 2017 (9)
- February 2017 (6)
- January 2017 (6)
- December 2016 (5)
- November 2016 (7)
- October 2016 (5)
- September 2016 (7)
- August 2016 (7)
- July 2016 (5)
- June 2016 (7)
- May 2016 (7)
- April 2016 (7)
- March 2016 (4)
- February 2016 (5)
- January 2016 (4)
- December 2015 (5)
- November 2015 (4)
- October 2015 (4)
- September 2015 (5)
- August 2015 (4)
- July 2015 (5)
- June 2015 (5)
- May 2015 (5)
- April 2015 (3)
- March 2015 (5)
- February 2015 (4)
- January 2015 (5)
- December 2014 (6)
- November 2014 (1)
- October 2014 (3)
- September 2014 (1)
- July 2014 (2)
- June 2014 (3)
- May 2014 (7)
- April 2014 (9)
- March 2014 (1)
- January 2014 (1)
- November 2013 (1)
- October 2013 (1)
- May 2013 (2)
- March 2013 (2)
- February 2013 (1)
- January 2013 (4)
- November 2012 (1)
- September 2012 (11)
- August 2012 (7)
- January 2010 (1)