“Five Reasons to Create a Living Trust Today” by Attorney Jon J. Gasior (Audio)
A living trust attorney can help you to determine if you should create a trust. Living trusts are versatile and valuable legal tools that are often part of estate plans and incapacity plans. They can be used to protect your wealth and to protect your loved ones, although there are some limitations associated with the use of these tools. There are also other trusts that you could consider using as well if you determine a living trust is not right for you. 
Sinclair Prosser Gasior will provide personalized advice on whether trust creation is the best course of action when you are making your plans for the future. You should give us a call to talk with a living trust lawyer about the tools that are best for you. You can also read on here about five key reasons why creating a living trust may be a step that you should take.
1. A living trust helps you prepare for incapacity
If you become incapacitated, someone has to care for your property and possessions. If you haven’t made a plan, the court will appoint a guardian . A living trust can be a part of your plan so your loved ones don’t have to go to court to get a guardian appointed and so there is no delay or waiting period in determining who should be in charge of your assets in case of incapacity. By making a living trust, the person you name as trustee will immediately have authority to take over management of your wealth if you cannot handle your own assets any more because of your incapacity. A trusted person of your choosing will be in charge and will have a fiduciary duty to manage your assets appropriately.
2. A living trust provides you with flexibility
A living trust is a great tool to include in your incapacity plan and estate plan because it is flexible. Unlike with an irrevocable trust, you can modify or change a living trust as needed as your life circumstances change. You don’t have to worry that once you have made the trust, you and your family will be stuck abiding by the terms of the trust document even if the trust no longer makes sense for you.
3. A living trust allows you to quickly transfer assets to loved ones
One of the key reasons to make a living trust is to allow for assets to transfer to your loved ones in a timely manner. If your assets have to transfer through the probate process after you pass away, your heirs or beneficiaries could end up waiting around a year or longer to inherit. This could cause financial hardship and, if assets require careful hands-on management, the value of assets could decline during the time it takes for assets to be transferred. When you transfer assets that are held in a living trust, the assets can transfer through the trust administration process. The trust administration process tends to be much faster than the probate process and the court does not have to become involved.
4. A living trust means your assets won’t have to transfer through the probate process.
Avoiding the probate process has many benefits, including saving costs, saving time and keeping your personal financial information private instead of that information becoming court record. You will need to make a living trust if you want assets to transfer through the quick, efficient, and private trust administration process.
5. A living trust can help you to protect your wealth
While a living trust won’t protect assets from creditors or estate tax, it still helps to protect your wealth by allowing a trusted person to take over immediately in case of incapacity and by facilitating the timely transfer of assets to new owners after you pass on.
Getting Help from a Living Trust Lawyer
A living trust attorney will work with you to determine if creating a living trust is the right course of action or if you should consider other ways to protect your family and assets, such as a power of attorney in case of incapacity or an irrevocable trust to transfer assets without incurring estate tax. It’s important to choose the right type of trust and get your plans in place early because you never know when something could happen to you.
Consider joining us for a free seminar to find out how our compassionate and knowledgeable legal team can help you with trust creation and with other aspects of making an estate plan or asset protection plan. If you are ready to get help with trusts or with using other tools to implement your estate plan, you can also give us a call at 410-573-4818 or contact us online at any time.
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