Benefits of a Georgia Revocable Living Trust
Nearly everyone who starts to think about estate planning in Georgia knows that they should likely make a will. A will, also described commonly as a last will and testament, can be an important document for identifying loved ones and charities to inherit your assets after your death. Yet a revocable living trust can actually do the same thing while allowing your beneficiaries to avoid probate, and these estate planning tools also have many other benefits that you should certainly consider.
While it is still important to make a will — especially since a will can allow you to name an executor of your estate and to identify a guardian for your minor children, both things that a revocable living trust cannot do — a revocable living trust may be the better option when it comes to having your assets distributed. The following are some of the key benefits of a Georgia revocable living trust.
Avoid Probate
As we noted above, any assets that are distributed to beneficiaries through a revocable living trust (or through any other type of trust) do not need to go through probate. As such, your loved ones will not need to wait months — or sometimes longer — for the complex probate process to conclude before they receive their inheritances. Assets from a trust can be distributed almost immediately.
Prevent Family Disputes
Using a revocable living trust, or another type of trust, to distribute assets to beneficiaries can also help to prevent family disputes. The terms of a trust cannot be contested as those of a will can.
Maintain Control of Your Assets During Your Lifetime
In addition to the above benefits of trusts in general, there is a major benefit of a revocable living trust: it allows you to maintain control of all of the assets that you place into the trust during your lifetime. You can name yourself as the trustee of your revocable living trust, which means that you will manage the assets during your lifetime. A successor trustee (which we will discuss in more detail below, and who you can also choose) can then manage the trust after your death.
Make Changes to the Trust and Beneficiaries As Needed
A revocable living trust, unlike many other types of irrevocable trusts, can be changed or canceled entirely according to your wishes or whims during your lifetime. Accordingly, if any family issues arise, a new family member is born, or you simply change your mind about how a certain asset should be distributed, you can make changes to the revocable living trust.
Planning for the Possibility of Incapacity with a Successor Trustee
With a revocable living trust, you can also ensure that your needs will be met and your assets will be protected in the event of your own incapacity. You can name a successor trustee who can take control of the trust in the event you do become incapacitated, and that trustee will have a fiduciary duty to manage the trust and the assets it holds appropriately.
Contact a Gwinnett County Estate Planning Lawyer
Whether you already have an estate plan that you want to revisit, or you have not yet created an estate plan, you should speak with an experienced Gwinnett County estate planning attorney at Bowman Law Firm about the benefits of a revocable living trust. This type of trust is one of the most common types of estate planning tools, and revocable living trusts can provide many different types of benefits to various Georgia residents. To learn more about revocable living trusts, contact our firm today and find out more about how we can help you with your estate plan.
Source:
law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-53/
