From Jerry “Woody” on Flickr
One of the primary decisions a person has to make after they’ve decided they are going to do Oklahoma estate planning is whether they’re going to go the trust route or the last will and testament route.
Both routes allow a person to make decisions about how their estate will be distributed and how their family will be cared for. There are however some things that a person can do with a living trust that the same person cannot do with the last will and testament. I’m going to provide a list of some of these things that will hopefully be helpful is another tool for determining whether you want to go the trust route or the last will and testament route.
Your family can avoid probate.
As I wrote about in this post, a Will does not provide any means to avoid probate. If you pass away owning real property that is not jointly titled, your heirs will be going through the probate process at some point. With an Oklahoma trust, however, the trust exists and owns the real property the day it is transferred into the trust. Since the Trust is the owner of the real property, the death of an individual does not impact this. No probate case is required to transfer title to the real property. Your family saves time and money.
Protect your privacy.
Privacy is one of the most significant underrated features of a living trust. How is privacy part of the trust process? To understand this you must understand what happens if a person dies with no living trust. If a person passes away owning real property, investment accounts or mineral interest usually that person’s errors must file a probate proceeding to access the property. Oklahoma probate is a public process. You file a lawsuit in the County Court in which the deceased person lived and all of the documents filed in the lawsuit are publicly available. Not only are the documents publicly available, but with current technology, most of the documents can be accessed from any Internet-enabled computer. That means anyone can view the documents that are part of the probate case including the last will and testament which often contains personal details and other private family matters.
Plan for a special needs child.
If you have children, grandchildren, or other dependents with special needs a Trust can be customized to meet these needs, by specifying and limiting access or control over the inherited property. A Will allows you to pass on your property to those heirs but a Will in itself does not allow you to exercise substantial control or provide protection for your heirs’ use of the property.
Facilitate your care during disability.
Creating a revocable trust is an excellent way to ensure your property remains available to be used for your benefit if you become incapable of managing your own affairs. While continuity of management is also possible when a durable power of attorney is signed, third parties such as banks, brokers and transfer agents often have more difficulty in dealing with a power of attorney than with a trust. And, if the designated attorney-in-fact is unable to act, the power of attorney may not be usable. If you become disabled and you have neither a revocable trust nor a power of attorney, an expensive, lengthy, and potentially embarrassing court proceeding is generally required to appoint a conservator or guardian before your property can be used to benefit either you or your family. And even after a guardian has been named, continued court supervision over the management of investments and disbursements is usually required. This can include annual bond fees, annual fees for providing a court-ordered accounting and additional legal and accounting fees. A Will is not helpful in this area because it does not go into effect until you pass away.
Allow your family to have immediate access to your assets at death.
Assets in a revocable trust at the grantor’s death are available to raise cash to pay income, estate and other taxes, administration expenses and debts immediately after death, without waiting for a probate decree or issuance of preliminary letters. If the trust is funded prior to death, the property in the trust remains in the trustee’s name before and after death and is immediately available for liquidation should the need arise.
Follow Us!